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THE  LIBRARY 

OF 

THE  UNIVERSITY 

OF  CALIFORNIA 

LOS  ANGELES 


SERIES   XXXIV  No.  3 

JOHNS  HOPKINS  UNIVERSITY  STUDIES 

IN 

Historical  and  Political  Science 

Under  the  Direction  of  the 

Departments  of  History,  Political  Economy,  and 
Political  Science 


THE  CONTROL  OF  STRIKES  IN 
AMERICAN  TRADE  UNIONS 


BY 


GEORGE  MILTON  JANES,  Ph.D. 
Instructor  in  Political  and  Social  Science  in  the  University  of  Washington 


BALTIMORE 

THE  JOHNS   HOPKINS   PRESS 

1916 


SERIES  XXXIV  NO.  3 

JOHNS  HOPKINS  UNIVERSITY  STUDIES 

IN 

Historical  and  Political  Science 

Under  the  Direction  of  the 

Departments  of  History,  Political  Economy,  and 
Political  Science 


THE  CONTROL  OF  STRIKES  IN 
AMERICAN  TRADE  UNIONS 


BY 


GEORGE  MILTON  JANES,  Ph.D. 
Instructor  in  Political  and  Social  Science  in  the  University  of  Washington 


BALTIMORE 

THE  JOHNS   HOPKINS  PRESS 

1916 


Copyright  1916  by 
THE  JOHNS  HOPKINS  PRESS 


PRESS  OF 

THE  NEW  ERA  PRINTING  COMPANY 

LANCASTER,  PA. 


M. 


CONTENTS 

Page 

Preface vii 

Introduction 9 

Chapter        I .     The  Development  of  Control 1 1 

Chapter      II.     Control  by  National  Deputy 20 

Chapter     III.     Arbitration  and  Control 29 

Chapter      IV.     The  Initiation  of  Strikes 38 

Chapter       V.     The  Independent  Strike 49 

Chapter     VI.    The  Management  of  Strikes 71 

Chapter   VII.    Strike  Benefits 88 

Chapter  VIII.     The  Termination  of  Strikes 116 


T 


INST.  INDUS.  REL. 


PREFACE 

This  monograph  had  its  origin  in  an  investigation  carried 
on  by  its  author  while  a  member  of  the  Economic  Seminary 
of  the  Johns  Hopkins  University.  The  chief  documentary 
source  of  information  has  been  the  collection  of  trade- 
union  publications  in  the  Johns  Hopkins  Library.  This 
study  of  the  printed  material  has,  however,  been  supple- 
mented by  personal  interviews  and  correspondence  with 
both  national  and  local  trade-union  officials  and  with  em- 
ployers of  labor  in  a  number  of  industrial  centers. 

The  author  would  record  here  his  appreciation  of  the 
helpful  criticism  of  Professor  Jacob  H.  Hollander  and 
Professor  George  E.  Barnett,  under  whose  guidance  the 
study  was  undertaken  and  carried  on. 

G.  M.  J. 


THE  CONTROL  OF  STRIKES  IN  AMERICAN 
TRADE  UNIONS 


INTRODUCTION 

Strikes  have  been  a  marked  feature  of  American  industrial 
life  during  the  last  fifty  years,  and  this  period  has  been 
characterized  by  the  rise  and  growth  of  trade  unions  in 
this  country.  The  two  facts  are  closely  connected.  The 
purpose  of  a  strike  is  to  enforce  the  demands  of  the  men 
who  engage  in  it  by  a  withdrawal  from  work.  To  make 
this  device  more  effective,  the  trade  union  endeavors  to 
organize  the  workmen.  By  means  of  organization  three 
results  are  accomplished.  In  the  first  place,  the  strike 
is  made  more  comprehensive  and  therefore  is  more  likely 
to  succeed.  Secondly,  the  strike  is  more  efficiently  financed 
and  the  strikers,  therefore,  can  stand  out  longer.  Finally, 
the  advantages  won  by  the  strike  are  better  retained  when 
a  permanent  organization  of  the  men  is  accomplished. 

It  is  a  popular  fallacy  that  trade  unions  fqment  strikes 
and  that  striking  is  their  reason  for  being.  To  this  the 
trade  unionist  says:  "Young  and  weak  unions  have  many 
strikes;  old  and  strong  ones  have  few.  If  unions  were 
mere  striking  machines,  the  opposite  would  be  true."^ 
The  importance  of  moderation  is  insisted  upon  by  most 
labor  leaders.  Collective  bargaining  is  the  ultimate  goal 
of  nearly  all  trade  unions,  and  to  reach  it  not  only  organiza- 
tion but  discipline  is  needed.  Strikes  are  dangerous  to 
the  organization  and  costly.  Hard  experience  has  taught 
trade-union  officials  that  something  more  than  enthusiasm 
is  necessary  to  win  a  strike;  and,  while  it  may  be  true 
occasionally  that  a  union  thrives  on  opposition,  a  strike 
is  not  to  be  considered  an  end  in  itself.     If  the  strike  is 

^  Painter  and  Decorator,  April,  1910,  p.  262. 

9 


10       CONTROL  OF  STRIKES  IN  AMERICAN  TRADE  UNIONS   [348 

lost,  the  better  wages  and  conditions  obtained  by  previous 
effort  may  be  lost  also.  Experienced  union  officials, 
therefore,  count  the  cost  before  entering  on  a  struggle 
with  the  employer.  The  "get-rich-quick  strike  method," 
as  it  is  called,  is  termed  a  failure.^  Paradoxical  as  it  may 
seem,  young  and  inexperienced  unions  often  disintegrate 
after  a  strike  is  won,  because  it  is  easier  to  rely  on  promises 
than  to  continue  the  union  and  pay  dues.  But  the  reten- 
tion of  higher  wages  and  better  working  conditions  is 
usually  contingent  on  the  continuance  of  the  union.  The 
trade-union  leader  must  not  merely  estimate  the  chances 
of  success,  but  must  also  consider  whether  the  ground 
won  can  be  held.  The  law  of  the  survival  of  the  fittest 
has,  therefore,  brought  about  a  more  or  less  complete  con- 
trol of  strikes  in  many  unions,  while  in  all  there  is  unanimity 
of  opinion  concerning  the  value  and  need  of  organization 
and  discipline. 

The  purpose  of  this  study  is  to  describe  the  control  of 
strikes  exercised  by  the  general  or  national  unions.  The 
evolution  of  strike  initiation  from  local  autonomy  to  con- 
trol by  the  general  or  national  union  is  first  described. 
This  is  followed  by  a  somewhat  detailed  account  of  the 
place  of  the  national  deputy  or  agent,  and  the  influence 
of  arbitration.  The  initiation  of  strikes  is  then  taken  up, 
after  which  the  unauthorized  strike  or  independent  action 
on  the  part  of  local  unions  is  discussed  in  connection  with  a 
classified  list  of  unions  and  union  policies.  A  considera- 
tion of  strike  management  follows,  together  with  a  de- 
scription of  the  methods  used  and  the  part  taken  by  the 
national  deputy  or  agent.  The  real  source  of  control,  the 
power  of  the  purse,  is  then  described  in  the  matter  of  strike 
benefits,  their  amounts,  and  the  rules  under  which  they 
are  paid.  An  account  of  the  growth  and  influence  of  the 
strike  fund  follows,  and  in  conclusion  some  figures  are 
quoted  as  to  the  amounts  paid  out  in  strike  benefits.  The 
final  chapter  is  devoted  to  a  discussion  of  the  methods  used 
in  bringing  a  strike  to  an  end. 

*Shoe  Workers'  Journal,  February,  191 1,  pp.  25,  26. 


CHAPTER   I 

The  Development  of  Control 

The  early  history  of  strikes  in  American  trade  unions  is 
characterized  by  what  may  be  termed  the  anarchy  of  local 
autonomy.  The  course  of  development  has  been  away 
from  local  independence  in  all  matters  pertaining  to  strikes, 
towards  the  vesting  of  authority  in  the  matter  in  the  hands 
of  the  national  unions  and  their  officers. 

Previous  to  the  panic  of  1837  general  trade  unions  com- 
posed of  the  local  unions  in  a  particular  locality  were 
organized  in  the  larger  cities  on  the  Atlantic  seaboard. 
Some  measure  of  control  over  the  initiation  of  strikes  was 
developed  by  these  organizations.  The  New  York  General 
Trades'  Union,  for  instance,  provided  in  1833  that  "no 
Trade  or  Art  shall  strike  for  higher  wages  than  they  at 
present  receive,  without  the  sanction  of  the  Convention."^ 
Under  this  rule  a  strike  of  the  cabinet  makers  was  sanc- 
tioned in  1835.^  The  Philadelphia  General  Trades'  Union, 
likewise,  provided  in  1836  that  any  society  before  striking 
must  give  a  written  notice  to  the  president,  who  should 
call  a  special  meeting;  if  a  two-thirds  vote  of  the  societies 
present  was  given  in  favor,  the  strike  was  to  be  sanctioned 
and  aid  granted.  No  aid  was  granted,  however,  unless  the 
society  had  been  represented  in  the  union  for  the  space  of 
six  months  and  had  complied  with  all  other  constitutional 
requirements.^  With  the  panic  of  1837  and  the  depression 
which  followed,  the  trade  unions  went  to  pieces.  The 
period  of  rising  prices  after  1843  found  the  working  classes 
unorganized,  and  although  there  were  numerous  strikes 
throughout  the  country  they  were  sporadic  and  without 

^  J.   R.   Commons  and   H.   L.   Sumner,    Documentary   History  of 
American  Industrial  Society,  vol.  v,  p.  218. 
'  Ibid.,  p.  234. 
» Ibid.,  p.  347. 

II 


12       CONTROL  OF  STRIKES  IN  AMERICAN  TRADE  UNIONS    [35O 

concerted  action.'*  "Before  the  unorganized  strikers," 
says  Professor  Commons,  "could  be  united  in  permanent 
labor  organizations,  however,  prices  had  resumed  their 
downward  course.  Strikes  were  now  futile  and  the  workers 
turned  their  attention  towards  labor  reforms  through  legis- 
lation and  through  cooperadve  purchasing  and  mutual 
insurance."^  The  interesting  thing  about  this  early  move- 
ment is  that  the  necessity  for  strike  control  was  recognized 
and  an  attempt  made  to  secure  it  through  the  only  available 
organ, — the  local  federation  of  unions. 

A  characteristic  feature  of  the  trade-union  movement 
since  1852  has  been  the  increasing  dominance  of  the  national 
union,  that  is,  the  union  of  local  bodies  into  a  national 
organization.  All  other  forms  of  grouping  have  been  sub- 
ordinated to  the  control  of  the  national  union. ^  The  more 
fully  the  trade  unions  have  turned  from  political  and  co- 
operative aims  the  more  thoroughly  the  national  union 
has  established  its  preeminence.  For  brief  periods  the 
supremacy  of  the  national  union  has  been  threatened — as, 
for  instance,  during  the  great  growth  of  the  Knights  of 
Labor — but  it  has  always  reasserted  itself. 

The  control  of  strikes  has  been  exercised,  therefore, 
primarily  by  the  national  union.  Each  step  in  the  in- 
creasing dominance  of  the  national  union  has  been  evi- 
denced by  a  new  check  on  the  power  of  the  local  unions  to 
initiate  strikes  or  by  the  assumption  of  power  on  the  part 
of  the  national  union  to  manage  strikes.  The  control  of 
strikes  is  by  no  means  equal  in  all  the  one  hundred  and 
thirty  national  unions.  In  the  newer  and  weaker  unions 
local  autonomy  in  strike  control  is  almost  complete;  in 

*  In  1846,  however,  the  New  York  handloom  carpet  weavers  in  an 
effort  to  bolster  up  their  decaying  handicraft  met  in  convention  and 
provided  for  mutual  help.  All  grievances  were  to  be  submitted  to  the 
workers  of  each  factory  for  advice,  and  before  using  stringent  measures 
"two-thirds  of  the  whole  Trade,  the  number  aggrieved  included," 
should  approve  and  advise  the  same  (J.  R.  Commons,  Documentary 
History  of  American  Industrial  Society,  vol.  viii,  p.  241). 

*  Ibid.,  p.  214. 

•The  term  ''national  union"  is  used  throughout  this  study  synony- 
mously with  "international  union."  The  greater  part  of  the  American 
trade  unions  have  branches  in  Canada,  and  accordingly  style  them- 
selves international  unions. 


35 1  ]         THE  DEVELOPMENT  OF  CONTROL  1 3 

others  the  national  control  is  absolute.  But  the  develop- 
ment everywhere  is  in  one  direction, — the  substitution  of 
national  for  local  control.  The  evolution  of  national  con- 
trol will  be  illustrated  by  a  description  of  several  of  the 
older  unions.  As  in  biology  life  forms  repeat  or  recapitu- 
late in  a  brief  time  the  previous  slow  stages  of  development, 
so  now  unions  by  direct  imitation  of  older  unions,  or  by 
stern  necessity,  approach  in  many  respects  a  common  type 
of  policy. 

The  national  union  of  the  Printers,  the  oldest  of  the 
national  unions,  was  organized  as  the  National  Typo- 
graphical Union  in  1852.  For  thirty  years  the  local  unions 
in  this  organization  enjoyed  almost  complete  autonomy, 
and  all  that  the  national  union  did  in  the  matter  was  to 
protest  against  too  frequent  strikes.  In  1876  rules  for  the 
government  of  strikes  were  passed  providing  for  at  least  a 
three-fourths  majority  vote  of  the  local  union,  "all  the 
members  being  constitutionally  notified  of  the  meeting,"  in 
order  to  initiate  a  strike.  Members  to  have  the  right  to  vote 
must  have  belonged  to  the  local  union  at  least  six  months.'^ 
"Since  the  local  unions  in  case  of  strike  were  not  aided  by 
the  International,"  says  one  authority,  "disobedience  to 
these  rules  carried  no  penalty."^  With  the  establishment 
of  the  strike  fund  in  1885,  a  larger  degree  of  control  began 
to  be  exercised  by  the  national  union. ^  The  real  executive 
power  of  the  union  is  now  vested  in  an  executive  coun- 
cil composed  of  the  president,  the  secretary-treasurer,  and 
the  second  vice-president,  and  all  strikes  must  receive 
the  sanction  of  this  body.^° 

Local  autonomy  was  the  rule  with  the  Iron  Molders' 
Union  for  several  years  after  its  organization  in  1859.  A 
strike  was  sanctioned  by  the  convention  of  1861,  but  with 
the  resolution  "that  this  body  recommends  to  local  unions 
to  discountenance  all  strikes  in  their  respective  localities 

'  Proceedings,  1876,  p.  65. 

*  G.  E.  Barnett,  "The  Printers:  A  Study  in  American  Trade  Union- 
ism," in  American  Economic  Association  Quarterly,  October,  1909, 
P-  327- 

» Ibid.,  p.  67. 

^°  See  below,  Chapter  V. 


14       CONTROL  OF  STRIKES  IN  AMERICAN  TRADE  UNIONS   [352 

until  every  other  remedy  has  been  tried  and  failed. "^^ 
As  early,  however,  as  1863  the  initiation  of  a  strike  was 
made  subject  to  the  approval  of  a  referendum  vote.^^  In 
1866  the  corresponding  representatives  were  earnestly 
requested  to  return  all  unauthorized  strike  circulars  under 
penalty  of  having  their  names  published  if  they  did  not 
do  so.  Two  official  strike  circulars  sent  out  the  same  year 
received  yeas  100,  nays  5,  and  yeas  92,  nays  9,  and  strikes 
were  authorized  in  both  cases.^^  Strikes  were  generally 
authorized;  out  of  forty-one  applications  in  1866  only 
three  failed  to  pass.  President  Sylvis  declared  that  the 
strike  rules  had  worked  well,  but  added  that  strikes  should 
be  discouraged  as  much  as  possible.^"*  The  rule  requiring  a 
two-thirds  vote  of  all  the  local  unions  to  sanction  a  strike 
was  changed  in  1874  to  two-thirds  of  all  the  votes.^^  The 
president  was  also  obliged  to  give  all  the  facts  in  his  posses- 
sion when  issuing  a  strike  circular.^^  Another  change  was 
the  grant  to  local  unions  of  the  same  number  of  votes  on 
strike  circulars  as  the  number  of  delegates  they  were  en- 
titled to  in  convention.  Local  unions  failing  to  return 
strike  votes  were  to  be  fined  ten  dollars  and  to  suffer  for- 
feiture of  all  rights  until  the  fine  was  paid.^^ 

President  Saffin  in  1873  published  a  number  of  executive 
decisions  in  regard  to  the  initiation  of  strikes,  such  as  the 
following:  no  member  can  strike  a  job,  no  shop  committee 
can  order  a  strike,  and  no  job  or  shop  can  be  struck  except 
by  a  two-thirds  vote  of  the  members  at  a  regular  meeting, 
or  at  a  special  meeting  when  due  and  proper  notice  has 
been  given  to  every  member  to  be  present.^^  These 
decisions  formed  precedents  and  have  been  followed  by 
the  officers  of  other  national  unions.  A  standing  resolution 
enacted  in  1876  that  the  question  of  either  financial  or 

"  International  Journal  [Iron  Molders],  April,  1874,  p.  322. 

"  Ibid.,  May,  1874,  p.  354. 

^'  Ibid.,  August,  1866,  p.  154. 

"  Ibid.,  August,  1866,  p.  310. 

1^  Ibid.,  March,  p.  292,  April,  p.  327,  August,  p.  3,  1874. 

^^  Ibid.,  August,  1874,  p.  3. 

"  Ibid.,  p.  5. 

'» Ibid.,  April,  1873,  p.  i;  Constitution,  1876,  p.  32. 


353]         THE  DEVELOPMENT  OF  CONTROL  1 5 

moral  support  should  be  voted  on,  and  if  sanction  for  a 
strike  with  moral  support  was  given,  no  benefits  would  be 
paid.^^  Considerable  discontent  arose  in  regard  to  the 
referendum  vote  in  the  matter,  and  wider  control  was 
given  the  executive  board  in  1878;  but  President  Saffin 
refused  to  recognize  such  power .^°  One  critic  said  that  such, 
executive  boards  were  copied  from  the  Friendly  Societies 
of  England  and  were  bound  to  fail  in  America.^^  It  was 
not  until  1882,  after  several  years  of  agitation,  that  abso- 
lute control  of  all  strikes  and  lockouts  was  put  into  the 
hands  of  the  executive  board  and  the  president,  with  the 
instruction  to  see  that  no  more  strikes  should  be  carried  on 
at  any  one  time  than  the  organization  was  able  to  conduct.^ 
A  similar  development  has  taken  place  in  the  Bricklayers 
and  Masons'  International  Union  since  its  organization  in 
1865.  At  first  the  general  president  submitted  strike  pro- 
posals to  the  presidents  of  the  local  unions  for  approval  or 
disapproval.^^  Such  strike  arrangements  were  found  to  be 
crude  and  inefficient  and  not  clear .^"^  The  executive  com- 
mittee, made  up  of  the  president  and  the  vice-president, 
sanctioned  strikes,  saying  that  in  the  absence  of  any 
definite  rule  the  matter  was  left  entirely  to  their  judgment.^^ 
In  1868  the  following  rule  was  enacted  to  govern  local 
unions  in  initiating  strikes:  "Such  unions  shall  transmit  to 
the  president  of  this  union  a  bill  of  grievance  properly  filled 
up  and  signed  by  the  president  and  recording  secretary, 
attested  by  the  seal  thereof.  When  a  union  wishes  to  make 
application  for  authority  to  strike  the  yeas  and  nays  shall 
be  taken  and  it  shall  require  a  majority  of  two-thirds  of 
the  members  of  said  union  to  adopt  the  motion.  The 
result  of  the  vote  shall  in  all  cases  be  returned  to  the  presi- 
dent of  this  union,  who  on  receipt  of  the  bill  of  grievance 
shall  notify  the  secretary  to  forward  a  printed  copy  thereof 

"  Constitution,  1876,  p.  41. 

2"  Proceedings,  1878,  pp.  48-51. 

"  Iron  Molders'  Journal,  December  10,  1878,  p.  62. 

^^  Proceedings,  1882,  p.  76. 

^^  Constitution,  1867,  art.  xii. 

^^  Proceedings,  1868  p.  23. 

25  Ibid.,  pp.  14-18. 


1 6       CONTROL  OF  STRIKES  IN  AMERICAN  TRADE  UNIONS    [354 

to  each  corresponding  representative  who  shall  return  the 
same  within  twenty-four  hours  with  decision  thereon.  If  at 
the  expiration  of  twelve  days  he  shall  find  a  majority  of 
two-thirds  in  favor  of  granting  authority  to  strike,  he  shall 
notify  the  union ;  and  action  thereon  shall  be  taken  by  said 
union  within  five  days  from  the  receipt  of  said  notice. 
It  shall  require  a  two-thirds  majority  of  said  union  to 
authorize  a  strike. "^^  President  Gaul  protested  in  1870 
that  too  many  local  unions  went  out  on  strike  before  asking 
for  official  sanction.  He  declared  himself  against  strikes, 
but  urged  that  in  any  event  the  mode  of  initiating  strikes 
should  be  less  cumbersome  and  more  expeditious.^^  A  pro- 
posal in  the  following  year  to  put  the  matter  in  the  hands 
of  the  president  was  rejected.^^  President  O'Keefe  in  1870 
refused  to  sanction  a  strike  which  had  received  the  endorse- 
ment of  the  local  unions  because  of  information  received 
after  issuing  the  circular.  The  matter  was  threshed  out 
at  three  conventions,  and  finally  the  local  union  received 
its  strike  benefits.^^ 

The  greatest  complaint  against  the  general  vote  was  the 
delay  of  local  unions  in  making  returns.  The  committee 
on  general  good  recommended  in  1886  that  all  local  unions 
hold  weekly  meetings  in  order  that  their  secretaries  may  be 
able  to  bring  requests  for  a  strike  vote  promptly  before  them 
for  action.^"  It  was  even  said  that  some  local  unions  did 
not  answer  at  all.  To  meet  this  condition  it  was  provided 
in  1887  that  a  failure  to  return  strike  answers  should  be 
penalized  by  a  fine  of  five  dollars.^^  But  even  this  did  not 
bring  the  desired  results,  and  the  following  rule  was  passed 
the  next  year:  "Any  Subordinate  Union  failing  to  report 
their  decision  for  or  against  a  permission  to  strike  within 
the  specified  time,  the  Secretary  shall  enter  such  Unions 
as  voting  in  the  affirmative  upon  the  records  of  the  Brick- 
layers and  Masons'  International  Union."     The  time  of 


2"^  Proceedings,  1868,  pp.  79,  80. 
^^Proceedings,  1870,  pp.  24,  25. 
"^Proceedings,  1871,  p.  15. 
"  Ibid.,  p.  8;  1873,  P-  H- 
'"  Proceedings,  1886,  p.  107. 
^1  Proceedings,  1887,  p.  91. 


355]         THE  DEVELOPMENT  OF  CONTROL  17 

five  days  originally  set  was  in  1890  extended  to  ten  days. 
Unions  were  requested  to  transmit  their  answers,  yes  or  no, 
by  telegraph  to  avoid  delay .^^ 

Aside  from  recommendations  that  strike  votes  should  be 
taken  more  quickly,  it  was  proposed  from  time  to  time  to 
put  the  entire  matter  in  the  hands  of  the  executive  board. 
Power  to  investigate  strikes  was  given  this  board  in  1894,^^ 
more  authority  in  1897,^*  and  finally  in  1903  the  whole 
matter  of  strikes  and  full  power  in  regard  thereto  were  thus 
referred .^^  Pure  democracy  thus  made  way  for  representa- 
tive government. 

The  Cigar  Makers  organized  a  general  union  in  1864, 
and  their  rules  governing  strikes  did  not  involve  any  great 
amount  of  centralized  control  until  1879.  Until  then  the 
executive  board  was  obliged  to  sanction  without  exercising 
any  discretion  all  strikes  except  those  for  an  increase  of 
wages.^^  The  depression  of  1873  led  to  many  strikes,  and 
a  committee  reported  in  that  year  that  the  reason  so  many 
had  been  failures  was  because  the  requirements  of  the  law 
had  not  been  carried  out.  Recommendation  was  made 
for  the  more  rigid  enforcement  of  the  rules  relating  to 
strikes  and  assessments.^^  In  1879  a  thorough  change  in 
regard  to  the  initiation  of  strikes  was  effected,  and  the 
rules  then  adopted  remain  substantially  unchanged. 
Strikes  involving  less  than  twenty-five  members  are  sanc- 
tioned at  the  discretion  of  the  executive  board.  All  in- 
volving more  than  twenty-five  members  are  submitted  to  a 
vote  of  all  local  unions.     If  a  majority  of  those  voting 

^2  Proceedings,  1888,  pp.  69,  113.  The  following  is  a  characteristic 
strike  report:  "The  vote  on  Circular  No.  5,  being  the  bill  of  grievance 
of  Union  No.  13,  of  Lowell,  Massachusetts,  asking  for  permission  to 
strike,  has  been  received,  resulting  in  favor  of  said  bill  as  follows: 
Number  of  Unions  voting  Yes,  227;  Number  of  Unions  No,  25;  Number 
of  Unions  not  voting  within  the  ten  days  required  by  law,  and  which 
are  counted  in  the  affirmative,  75;  excused  from  voting,  i;  total  vote 
in  favor,  302;  Number  of  Unions  question  submitted  to,  328." 

^^  Proceedings,  1894,  p.  84. 

'^  Proceedings,  1897,  pp.  70,  72. 

'*  Proceedings,  1903,  pp.  115,  116. 

^^Constitution,  1867,  art.  vii,  sec.  ID. 

"  Proceedings,  1873,  p.  45. 


1 8       CONTROL  OF  STRIKES  IN  AMERICAN  TRADE  UNIONS    [356 

approve  the  application,  the  desired  permission  is  given. 
Any  strike  for  an  increase  of  wages,  however,  is  not  con- 
sidered legal  unless  approved  by  a  two-thirds  majority  of 
all  votes  cast.  The  penalty  for  local  unions  failing  to  vote 
within  one  week  commencing  on  the  day  the  circular  is 
mailed  is  fixed  by  the  executive  board.  The  local  unions 
may  send  their  vote  by  telegram  at  the  expense  of  the 
national  union  provided  their  location  is  over  two  hundred 
miles  distant  from  the  office  of  the  national  president. 
The  vote  of  local  unions  on  strikes  is  in  proportion  to  their 
membership:  one  vote,  from  seven  to  fifty  members;  two 
votes,  from  fifty  to  one  hundred  members  or  fraction  of  not 
less  than  seventy-five;  three  votes,  from  one  hundred  to 
two  hundred,  and  an  additional  vote  for  every  additional 
one  hundred  members.^^  Provision  was  made  that  the 
national  president  in  submitting  an  application  to  strike 
should  state  the  number  of  men  already  on  strike  in  other 
localities;  the  condition  of  the  funds  per  capita;  how  much 
the  per  capita  assessment  would  be  in  order  to  make  up 
the  requisite  amount,  and  all  other  information  in  his 
possession  bearing  upon  the  matter.^^ 

The  tendency  of  local  unions  to  vote  in  favor  of  a  strike 
hastily  and  without  thought  or  merely  by  mob  influence 
has  been  obviated  to  a  certain  extent.  A  rule  was  passed 
in  1886  that  "all  votes  in  local  unions  upon  questions  of 
strikes  must  be  voted  by  secret  ballot  and  all  votes  taken 
contrary  to  this  method  shall  not  be  counted. "^°  A  unan- 
imous strike  vote  invites  suspicion  that  the  rule  is  being 
violated,  and  word  is  returned  from  headquarters  that 
"unanimous  strike  votes  don't  go  here."*^ 

The  transition  from  local  autonomy  to  central  control 
in  the  initiation  of  strikes  might  be  traced  in  the  case  of 
other  unions;  but  much  of  this,  certainly  in  the  case  of 
the  older  and  stronger  unions,  would  simply  repeat  the 
experiences  of  the  Printers,  the  Iron  Molders,  the  Brick- 

"  Cigar  Makers'  Official  Journal,  September  15,  1879,  p.  3. 

'^  Constitution,  1881,  art.  vi,  sec.  7. 

"  Constitution,  1886,  art.  vi,  sec.  25. 

*^  Interview  with  President  Perkins  of  the  Cigar  Makers. 


II 


357]         THE  DEVELOPMENT  OF  CONTROL  19 

layers  and  Masons,  and  the  Cigar  Makers.  The  tendency 
is  toward  centralized  control,  and  new  unions  usually  copy 
the  policies  and  rules  of  older  unions.  A  referendum  vote, 
similar  to  that  used  by  the  Cigar  Makers,  is  taken  by  the 
Box  Makers,  the  Chain  Makers,  the  Piano  and  Organ 
Workers,  the  Stone  Cutters,  and  the  Tobacco  Workers. 
The  Flint  Glass  Workers  and  the  Operative  Potters  require 
a  vote  of  the  trade,  while  the  railroad  brotherhoods  also 
take  a  general  vote  before  acting.  Some  sixty-five  national 
unions  require  that  sanction  for  initiating  a  strike  be  had 
from  the  executive  board.  As  these  executive  boards  are 
composed  of  the  general  officers  and  elected  members, 
control  of  strike  initiation  is  in  the  hands  of  the  general 
union  through  its  elected  representatives. 


CHAPTER   II 
Control  by  National  Deputy 

The  method  usually  followed  in  asking  for  sanction  to 
strike  is  for  the  local  union  to  send  with  its  application  to 
the  executive  board  a  statement  containing  full  details  as 
\  to  trade  conditions,  the  strength  of  the  local  union,  and  the 
prospects  for  a  successful  strike.  Some  unions,  like  the 
Carpenters  and  Joiners,  have  worked  out  an  elaborate 
schedule  of  inquiries  to  be  answered  by  the  president  and 
the  secretary  of  the  local  union.  The  information  thus 
obtained  makes  it  possible  for  the  national  officers  to 
decide  whether  a  strike  ought  to  be  authorized.  In  many 
unions  this  detailed  information  is  either  supplemented  by 
or  obtained  entirely  through  a  general  representative  or 
agent.  Many  of  the  general  officers  became  dissatisfied 
with  the  method  of  obtaining  information  through  corre- 
spondence with  local  officials,  and  so  with  the  gradual 
development  of  centralized  authority  in  the  national  unions 
has  come  the  national  agent  or  deputy. 

The  national  agent  may  be  found  as  far  back  as  1866, 
when  President  Sylvis  of  the  Iron  Molders  personally 
supervised  the  initiation  of  a  strike  in  Cleveland,  Ohio. 
"I  appointed,"  he  says  in  his  report,^  "Mr.  Alexander 
Faulkner  to  look  after  the  interests  of  the  Union ;  he  is  still 
acting  under  my  direction."  Faulkner  also  visited  several 
local  unions  and  settled  one  strike.  The  convention  of 
1863  had  already  empowered  him  to  visit  all  local  unions, 
he,  however,  to  collect  and  pay  his  own  expenses.  The 
Bricklayers  and  Masons  in  1867  gave  their  president  power 
to  appoint  a  deputy  for  each  local  union  to  supervise  the 
working  of  his  union  and  to  report  to  the  president  of  the 

1  Proceedings  of  the  Eighth  Annual  Session,  in  International  Jour- 
nal [Iron  Molders],  January,  1867,  p.  306. 


359]  CONTROL   BY   NATIONAL   DEPUTY  21 

national  union  all  violations  of  the  constitution  by  his 
union  .^  This  usage  is  still  found  in  the  Steel  Plate  Trans- 
ferers' Association,  whose  president  may  appoint  national 
deputies  to  represent  the  association  where  members  are 
employed.  A  strong  feeling  in  favor  of  local  autonomy 
persisted,  however,  among  the  Bricklayers;  for  in  the 
convention  of  1871  a  recommendation  that  the  president 
visit  each  union  between  the  sessions  failed  to  carry,  and 
when  taken  up  again  at  the  convention  of  1872  was  laid 
on  the  table  for  ten  years. 

The  chief  executive  as  an  authoritative  representative 
of  the  national  union  is  found  in  strongest  exemplification, 
perhaps,  in  the  Brotherhood  of  Locomotive  Engineers. 
P.  M.  Arthur,  on  taking  the  office  of  grand  chief  engineer 
in  1874,^  began  to  visit  the  members  of  the  various  divi- 
sions and  also  railroad  officials,  such  as  President  Scott  of 
the  Pennsylvania  Railroad.  Through  his  personal  con- 
ferences and  efforts  an  agreement  was  made  with  the 
Grand  Trunk  Railway  in  1875,^  which  being  violated  led 
to  a  strike  and  the  making  of  a  new  agreement  in  1877.^ 
The  following  extract  from  a  letter  written  by,  Mr.  Arthur 
in  1876  to  the  general  superintendent  of  a  railroad  illustrates 
the  procedure  which  he  followed  in  cases  where  a  strike  was 
threatened : 

The  laws  and  rules  of  the  Brotherhood  of  Locomotive  Engineers,  to 
which  the  engineers  in  your  employ  belong,  require  them,  when  a 
question  arises  between  them  and  their  employers  that  they  cannot 
settle  satisfactorily,  to  send  for  the  Grand  Chief  Engineer.  It  is  his 
duty  to  come  and  use  all  honorable  means  in  his  power  to  prevent 
any  difficulty  occurring  between  them  and  the  company.  Your 
engineers  have  sent  for  me;  I  have  come,  not  in  the  spirit  of  coercion 
as  dictator,  but  rather  as  mediator,  and  would  like  an  interview  with 
you  and  a  committee  of  your  engineers.  If  you  will  be  kind  enough 
to  grant  the  favor,  please  inform  the  bearer  of  time  and  place.® 

The  rules  of  the  Locomotive  Engineers  conferring  author- 
ity on  their  executive  in  regard  to  threatened  strikes  have 
been  frequently  copied  by  other  organizations.     This  has 

^  Proceedings,  1867,  p.  52. 

*  Locomotive  Engineers'  Monthly  Journal,  June,  1874,  p.  310. 

*  Ibid.,  May,  1875,  P-  255. 

*  Ibid.,  February,  1877,  p.  65. 

®  Ibid.,  November,  1876,  p.  506. 


22       CONTROL  OF  STRIKES  IN  AMERICAN  TRADE  UNIONS   [360 

been  due  to  a  large  extent  to  the  strong  personality  and 
the  long  and  successful  administration  of  Mr.  Arthur. 
Says  one  writer:  "Arthur  was  the  man  who  led  us  out  of 
the  darkness  and  wilderness  of  intemperance,  taught  us  to 
mind  our  own  business,  to  attend  to  our  duties,  and  the 
importance  of  non-interference  with  the  affairs  of  other 
organizations."^ 

In  addition  to  the  written  application,  the  Granite 
Cutters  in  1880  provided  for  a  report  by  a  committee  made 
up  of  representatives  from  the  two  nearest  branches  and 
one  of  the  members  of  the  branch  in  which  the  difficulty 
existed.^  This  report  was  to  describe  the  condition  of  the 
local  union  and  to  advise  as  to  the  expediency  of  a  strike. 
James  Duncan  in  1901  advocated  the  adoption  of  a  con- 
stitutional provision  requiring  a  national  officer  to  visit 
places  where  grievances  required  attention,^  and  the  sug- 
gestion was  finally  incorporated  in  the  constitution  in 
1905.^° 

The  Cigar  Makers  provided  in  1886  that  the  president 
should  appoint,  subject  to  confirmation  by  the  executive 
board,  a  member  of  the  national  union  as  agent  for  a 
strike  or  lockout  which  involved  more  than  fifty  members 
and  which  had  been  carried  on  for  a  period  of  eight  weeks.^^ 
Provided  with  proper  credentials  to  act  as  agent  or  repre- 
sentative of  the  national  union,  he  was  to  proceed  to  the 
locality  of  the  strike  or  lockout.  The  convention  in  the 
following  year^^  struck  out  the  clause  "has  been  carried 
on  for  a  period  of  eight  weeks,"  thus  leaving  all  strikes  and 
lockouts  involving  more  than  fifty  members  open  to  in- 
vestigation and  settlement  by  an  agent.  The  rule  regard- 
ing the  agent  was  changed  at  the  Detroit  convention  in 
1896,^^  and  an  agent  is  now  sent  whenever  a  strike  or  lock- 
out involving  more  than  fifty  men  is  contemplated  or  may 

^Locomotive  Engineers'  Monthly  Journal,  October,  1896,  p.  886. 

*  Constitution,  1880,  art.  xiii. 

®  Granite  Cutters'  Journal,  June,  1901,  p.  5. 

1"  Constitution,  1905,  sec.  12. 

"  Constitution,  1886,  art.  vi,  sec.  20. 

^  Proceedings,  1887,  pp.  10-21. 

"  Proceedings,  1896,  pp.  22,  32,  39. 


361]  CONTROL   BY  NATIONAL  DEPUTY  23 

arise.  The  local  union  is  required  to  telegraph  within 
twenty-four  hours  to  the  president,  who  shall  within  twenty- 
four  hours  appoint  a  member  of  the  national  union  to 
proceed  to  the  locality.  The  report  of  the  committee  to 
which  this  article  was  referred  said:  "It  should  be  apparent 
to  all  who  have  taken  note  of  the  foregoing  circumstances 
(costs  and  difficulties)  in  the  labor  movement  that  where 
arbitration  steps  in  prior  to  a  difficulty  great  good  has 
resulted." 

The  Iron  Holders  in  1882  ordered  that  the  president 
either  in  person  or  by  deputy  should  visit  the  place  of 
grievance,  investigate,  and  endeavor  to  adjust  the  matter.^'* 
The  Carpenters  and  Joiners  in  1890^^  and  the  Bricklayers 
and  Masons  in  1894^^  made  the  appointment  of  such  a 
deputy  a  fundamental  policy. 

A  special  variety  of  the  national  deputy  is  found  in  the 
"special  defense  organizers"  of  the  Hotel  and  Restaurant 
Employes'  International  Alliance  and  Bartenders'  Inter- 
national League  instituted  by  the  convention  of  that 
organization  in  1909.^^  These  officials  are  appointed  by 
the  executive  board  for  work  in  localities  where  the  interests 
of  the  union  are  threatened.  Such  representatives  are  sent 
into  towns  or  cities  or  states  where  the  unions  are  con- 
fronted with  antagonistic  legislation,  strikes,  or  serious 
trouble  of  any  character.  As  the  organization  has  few 
strikes,  the  work  of  these  deputies  is  chiefly  in  connection 
with  legislative  movements  or  public  agitations  concerning 
the  liquor  question. 

Although  the  deputy  is  usually  appointed  by  the  presi- 
dent or  the  executive  board  and  is  subject  to  their  direc- 
tion, it  not  infrequently  happens  that  a  deputy  is  sent  to  a 
particular  place  by  direct  order  of  a  convention  of  the 
national  union.  An  illustration  of  this  is  aff"orded  by  the 
action  of  the  1903  convention  of  the  Carriage  Workers.^^ 

1^  Proceedings,  1882,  p.  76. 
'*  Proceedings,  1890,  p.  33. 
'^  Proceedings,  1894,  p.  84. 
"  Proceedings,  1909,  pp.  33,  145. 
^*  Proceedings,  1903,  p.  7. 


24  CONTROL  F  STRIKES  IN  AMERICAN  TRADE  UNIONS    [362 

The  business  agent  of  Local  No.  83  of  Baltimore  requested 
that  a  national  representative  be  sent  to  Baltimore  to 
straighten  out  the  existing  difficulty  and,  if  possible,  try 
to  prevent  the  threatened  strike.  John  Brinkman  was 
authorized  to  go  for  two  days  with  expenses  paid  by  the 
executive  board.  Naturally  such  action  on  the  part  of  the 
convention  occurs  almost  exclusively  in  those  unions  in 
which  the  deputy  system  is  either  non-existent  or  is  only 
slightly  developed. 

The  older  and  stronger  national  unions  require  immediate 
notification  of  any  impending  difficulty,  after  which  a 
deputy  is  at  once  sent  to  the  scene.  Some  unions  provide 
that  a  national  officer  or  deputy  shall  be  called  in  only 
as  a  last  resort,  or  at  least  only  after  the  local  union  has 
done  everything  in  its  power  to  settle  the  difficulty.  Thus 
the  rules  of  the  Locomotive  Engineers  provide  that  the 
general  committee  of  adjustment  shall  exhaust  all  efforts 
to  effect  a  settlement  before  sending  for  the  grand  chief 
engineer  ;^^  the  same  rule  obtains  in  the  Brotherhood  of 
Locomotive  Firemen  and  Enginemen,^°  the  Order  of  Rail- 
way Conductors,^^  the  Brotherhood  of  Railroad  Trainmen,^^ 
and  the  Railway  Carmen  .^^  The  Switchmen^  and  the  Car 
Workers^^  must  not  call  in  the  president  until  after  every 
provision  of  the  constitution  and  by-laws  has  been  complied 
with.  As  an  outcome  of  a  discussion  begun  at  the  conven- 
tion of  1903,  the  Stove  Mounters  passed  a  resolution  at 
their  convention  of  1908  providing  that  no  local  union 
should  send  for  a  national  officer  unless  the  firm  absolutely 
refused  to  settle  with  the  local  union.  It  was  argued  that  a 
little  energy,  tact,  and  diplomacy  on  the  part  of  a  local 
union  in  settling  disputes  would  lessen  expenses  and  give 
the  president  time  for  organization  work.  "The  Treasury," 
said    President    Tierney,    "had    thus    been    unnecessarily 

^^  Constitution,  1910,  sees.  16,  17. 

'"'  Constitution,  revised,  1910,  p.  105. 

"  Constitution,  191 1,  sec.  46. 

^  Constitution,  1907,  General  Rules,  no.  8. 

^  Constitution,  1909,  sec.  91. 

^  Constitution,  1909,  sec.  261. 

-^  Constitution,  1910,  sec.  157. 


363]  CONTROL   BY   NATIONAL  DEPUTY  25 

depleted,  so  that  drastic  strike  measures  could  not  be 
resorted  to  and  the  Stove  Mounters  had  to  take  anything 
the  manufacturers  seemed  pleased  to  offer. "^^ 

In  general,  it  may  be  said  that  the  better  disciplined 
unions  can  insist  on  the  local  unions  carrying  on  negotia- 
tions up  to  the  breaking  point,  since  they  are  assured  that 
there  will  be  no  strike  until  authorization  is  given.  More- 
over, in  the  older  and  more  experienced  unions  the  local 
unions  are  better  able  to  handle  negotiations.  On  the  other 
hand,  in  the  newer  and  poorly  disciplined  unions  there  is 
great  danger  that  a  strike  may  occur  at  any  moment.  It 
is  advisable,  therefore,  that  the  deputy  should  be  on  the 
ground  at  the  earliest  possible  moment. 

The  function  of  the  deputy  is  to  go  to  the  locality,  in- 
vestigate "the  alleged  matter  of  complaint,"  make  an 
effort  to  adjust  the  matter,  if  possible,  and  report  to  the 
president  and  the  executive  board  of  the  national  union 
his  conclusions  as  to  the  situation  and  recommendations  as 
to  what  course  should  be  pursued.^'^  If  a  strike  is  author- 
ized, the  deputy  usually  remains  on  the  scene  of  the  trouble 
until  recalled  by  the  executive  board  on  the  settlement  or 
discontinuance  of  the  strike.^^  The  agent  or  deputy  is 
a  representative  of  the  national  union,  and  his  duties  can 
be  laid  down  only  in  a  general  way.  As  one  writer  has  said : 
"The  man  on  the  ground  representing  the  International 
Union  should  use  his  best  judgment;  it  does  not  matter 
whether  he  agrees  with  the  local  strike  committee  or  not. 
If  capable  and  experienced  he  is  supposed  to  lead  and  not 
to  follow.  It's  his  duty  to  stand  by  the  International 
Union  regardless  of  consequences;  to  protect  the  funds] 
against  waste  and  extravagance,  and  to  maintain  its  repu 
tation  for  a  'square  deal'  with  union  manufacturers."^^ 
The  deputy  must  be  received  by  the  local  union,  for  if  he 
is  not  permitted  to  perform  his  duties,  strike  benefits  may 

^^  Proceedings,  1903,  p.  5. 

*^  Thirty-ninth  Annual  Report  of  the  President  and  Secretary  of 
the  Bricklayers'  and  Masons'  International  Union,  1904,  p.  71. 

2*  Proceedings  of  the  Bricklayers'  and  Masons'  International  Union, 
1903,  pp.  115,  116. 

"  Cigar  Makers'  Official  Journal,  September  15,  1908,  p.  i. 


26       CONTROL  OF  STRIKES  IN  AMERICAN  TRADE  UNIONS   [364 

be  withheld  by  the  national  union  and  no  further  assistance 
granted .^°  A  strike  entered  into  by  a  union  after  refusing 
the  offices  of  a  national  deputy  would  be  illegal  and  would 
subject  the  local  union  to  a  fine  or  a  loss  of  charter.^^ 

The  deputy,  while  keeping  in  close  communication  with 
the  national  officials,  is  given  considerable  latitude  in  the 
exercise  of  his  own  judgment.  This  is  especially  true  in 
the  conduct  and  termination  of  strikes.  The  initiation  of  a 
strike  is  generally  on  the  advice  of  the  deputy  and  by 
authorization  of  the  executive  board.  In  an  emergency 
requiring  quick  action  questions  even  of  strike  initiation 
must  at  times  be  decided  by  the  deputy.  In  only  a  few 
unions,  however,  is  the  possibility  of  such  an  emergency 
contemplated  by  the  constitution  or  rules.  In  the  Actors' 
International  Union  authority  is  given  to  its  four  national 
district  deputies,  who  visit  the  local  unions,  inspect  the 
books,  collect  money,  and  act  as  organizers,  to  act  on 
their  own  responsibility  in  cases  of  extreme  urgency. 
Before  calling  a  strike  involving  the  union  in  a  lockout,  or 
placing  any  house  on  the  unfair  list,  the  deputy  must  call  a 
meeting  of  at  least  seven  members  of  the  local  union  or 
unions  interested.  Notice  of  this  emergency  action  must 
be  given  immediately  to  all  members  of  such  local  union  or 
unions.^^ 

In  all  the  unions  that  have  adopted  the  "deputy  system" 
it  is  regarded  as  important  that  the  deputy  should  be  on 
the  ground  before  a  strike  is  begun.  It  is  required,  there- 
fore, that  the  members  involved  continue  at  work  pending 
investigation  and  until  a  final  decision  has  been  reached. 
The  rule  has  worked  well;  for  any  dispute  can  be  more 
easily  adjusted  before  an  actual  breach  has  occurred. 
President  Martin  Fox  of  the  Iron  Molders  observed  that 
this  rule  "has  strengthened  the  position  of  the  Union  and 
proven  beneficial  in  all  cases. "^^     President  Menger  of  the 

'"Cigar  Makers'  International  Union,  Constitution,  1886,  art.  vi, 
sec.  22. 

*^  See  chapter  on  The  Independent  Strike. 
^*  Constitution,  1910,  sees.  83,  117. 
^2  Proceedings,  1895,  p.  6. 


365]  CONTROL   BY  NATIONAL   DEPUTY  27 

Operative  Potters  in  an  interview  with  the  writer  said: 
"If  an  international  officer  can  get  on  the  ground  before  a 
grievance  has  assumed  large  proportions  and  before  either 
side  has  committed  itself,  a  settlement  can  be  more  readily- 
brought  about  than  if  the  affair  is  allowed  to  go  on." 

A  representative  coming  in  from  the  outside  is  frequently 
able  to  compose  differences  which  the  parties  themselves 
cannot  settle.  Those  who  are  involved  in  a  quarrel  are  not 
the  best  qualified  to  appraise  its  merits.  Investigation 
by  a  party  not  previously  involved  is  almost  always  help- 
ful. The  agent  or  deputy  acts  as  a  mediator  between  the 
local  union  and  the  employer,  and  is  often  able  to  eliminate 
the  local  prejudice  or  personal  feeling  between  the  two 
parties.  It  is  true  that  the  deputy  comes  as  the  friend  of 
the  union;  but  he  takes  into  account  other  considerations 
than  the  success  of  the  local  union.  As  a  representative  of 
the  national  union,  he  must  consider  whether  the  local 
union  is  justified  in  its  demands,  and  whether  the  demands 
have  been  made  in  the  proper  spirit.  All  of  these  considera- 
tions make  him  a  mediating  element  more  or  less  inde- 
pendent of  the  local  union. 

In  many  of  the  national  unions  the  members  turn  more 
and  more  to  the  national  officers  in  case  of  grievance, 
lockout,  or  strike.  President  Garretson  of  the  Railway 
Conductors  reports:  "One  of  the  developments  of  our 
work  is  that  a  much  greater  amount  of  time  is  consumed  in 
the  settlement  of  difficulties  than  was  formerly  the  case 
and  on  account  of  this  development  the  staff  of  officers 
has  not  been  large  enough  to  meet  the  demands  made 
upon  it.  Notwithstanding  this,  the  results  accomplished 
speak  for  themselves."^*  The  Bricklayers  and  Masons 
have  experienced  also  a  wide  expansion  of  the  special  deputy 
system,^^  The  president,  the  vice-presidents,  and  the 
secretary  have  all  been  kept  busy  at  this  work  for  some 
years.  President  Bowen  in  one  of  his  reports  states  that 
on  account  of  the  demands  on  his  time  for  such  work  he 


^*  Proceedings,  1909,  p.  32. 
^^  Annual  Report,  1906,  p.  6. 


28       CONTROL  OF  STRIKES  IN  AMERICAN  TRADE  UNIONS   [366 

had  been  in  his  office  at  headquarters  less  than  two  months 
out  of  thirteen.  The  officials  of  the  Bricklayers  say: 
"This  [the  special  deputy]  system  has  been  crowned  with 
the  highest  success,  it  has  now  become  a  part  of  the  organic 
law  of  the  organization,  and  the  words  'special  deputy' 
and  'arbitration'  are  a  tower  of  strength." 

The  use  of  the  national  deputy  has  spread  and  is  found 
today  in  some  form  in  sixty-five  national  unions.  Wherever 
the  national  union  really  controls  strikes,  some  personal 
representative  of  the  national  union  has  been  found  neces- 
sary. In  those  unions  which  are  so  weak  that  they  can 
give  no  aid  to  their  local  unions  when  on  strike  there  is  no 
control  of  strikes  and  hence  no  need  for  a  national  deputy. 


CHAPTER   III 
Arbitration  and  Control 

Human  nature  in  labor  organizations  is  much  the  same 
as  elsewhere.  Trade  unions  include  radical,  pugnacious, 
and  emotional  elements  moved  more  by  sentiment  than 
by  reason.  Most  national  unions,  therefore,  provide  that 
before  an  application  for  strike  sanction  on  the  part  of  a 
local  union  can  be  even  considered,  every  effort  for  a  settle- 
ment of  the  grievance  must  have  been  put  forth.  The 
general  rule  is  that  the  local  union  must  endeavor  to  adjust 
either  by  conciliation  or,  if  that  fails,  by  an  offer  to  arbitrate, 
any  difficulty  that  may  arise.  Two  forms  of  arbitration 
may  be  distinguished:  the  general  requirement  of  arbi- 
tration, and  agreements  specifically  requiring  the  arbitra- 
tion of  any  dispute. 

Agitation  for  conciliation  and  arbitration  as  substitutes 
for  strikes  began  quite  early.  The  Benevolent  and  Pro- 
tective Spinners'  Association  of  New  England  at  its  organ- 
ization in  1858  declared  that  one  of  its  objects  was  "to 
prevent  strikes  through  the  medium  of  arbitration"  by 
referring  all  disputes  if  possible  to  arbitrators  whose  deci- 
sions should  be  final. ^  A  National  Labor  Congress  com- 
posed of  delegates  from  various  trade  unions  was  held  in 
Baltimore  in  1866,  and  one  of  its  committees  made  a  report 
discountenancing  strikes  except  "when  all  means  for  an 
amicable  adjustment  have  been  exhausted."  The  com- 
mittee recommended  the  appointment  of  an  arbitration 
committee  by  each  trades  assembly  for  the  adjustment  of 
disputes,  in  the  belief  that  "the  earher  adoption  of  such 
a  system  would  have  prevented  a  majority  of  those  ill- 
advised  so-called  strikes."^     In  1873  an  Industrial  Congress 

^  Constitution,  1858,  pp.  4-8. 

^  International  Journal  [Iron  Molders],  September,  1866,  p.  180. 

29 


30       CONTROL  OF  STRIKES  IN  AMERICAN  TRADE  UNIONS    [368 

made  up  of  representatives  of  various  trade  unions,  which 
met  at  Cleveland,  endorsed  the  idea  of  arbitration  as  a  sub- 
stitute for  strikes,  which  were  declared  to  be  usually  detri- 
mental to  both  parties  engaged  in  them,  and  recommended 
that  all  unions  should  adopt  a  system  of  arbitration.^ 

The  Cigar  Makers  in  1873  passed  a  rule  empowering  the 
national  president  to  order  any  local  union  in  case  of 
difhculties  to  select  a  board  of  arbitration.  President 
Cannon  in  commenting  on  this  rule  says  that  he  was 
opposed  to  any  and  all  strikes  unless  arbitration  had  first 
been  attempted.^  In  1872  the  Iron  Holders  incorporated 
in  their  constitution  a  rule  making  it  compulsory  on  the 
local  union  in  case  of  differences  in  regard  to  prices  or  wages 
to  ask  the  employer  to  refer  the  matter  to  arbitration.^ 
The  offer  of  arbitration  was  to  be  made  in  writing  and 
under  the  seal  of  the  local  union,  for  otherwise  the  offer 
would  not  be  recognized  by  the  national  union  and  a 
strike  circular  would  not  be  issued.  This  rule  was  intended 
to  fix  the  responsibility  for  the  rejection  of  peaceful 
methods.^  The  Lasters'  Protective  Association,  organized 
in  1879,  laid  emphasis  upon  arbitration  and  settled  many 
difficulties  without  resort  to  strike.'^  A  member  of  the 
Granite  Cutters'  Association  proposed  in  1882  that,  since 
many  strikes  were  instituted  to  resist  reductions  in  wages, 
a  board  of  arbitration  should  be  formed  to  study  the 
conditions  of  the  market,  and  that  if  a  reduction  was  found 
to  be  necessary,  work  should  go  on  at  reduced  wages  until 
business  improved.^ 

A  considerable  number  of  national  unions  at  present 

have  in  their  constitutions  rules  requiring  that  an  offer  to 

arbitrate  shall  be  made  before  a  strike  can  be  called.     The 

I  Cement  Workers,  for  instance,  provide  that  no  sanction 

shall  be  given  to  any  strike  or  lockout  until  all  possible 

'  International  Journal  [Iron  Molders],  July,  1873,  pp.  36-41. 

*  Cigar  Makers'  Official  Journal,  September  18,  1873,  p.  6;  Consti- 
tution, 1873,  p.  58. 

^  Iron  Molders'  Journal,  September  10,  1876,  p.  87. 

*  Ibid.,  August,  1874,  p.  9. 

^  G.  E.  McNeill,  in  Union  Boot  and  Shoe  Worker,  March,  1900,  p.  8. 

*  Granite  Cutters'  Journal,  December,  1882,  p.  2. 


369]  ARBITRATION   AND   CONTROL  3I 

efforts  to  arbitrate  the  difficulty  have  failed.^  The  Piano 
and  Organ  Workers  make  efforts  for  arbitration  compulsory 
before  any  strike  can  be  considered  legal.^'^ 

The  value  of  such  rules,  however,  does  not  appear  to  be 
very  great.  The  officers  of  the  national  union,  wherever 
they  have  full  control  of  strikes,  can  offer  to  arbitrate  if 
that  policy  appears  to  be  wise.  Before  the  national  union 
had  acquired  complete  control  of  strikes  an  attempt  was 
made  to  lessen  the  number  of  strikes  by  the  adoption  of 
rules  requiring  an  offer  of  arbitration.  Where  such  control 
exists  an  arbitrary  rule  of  this  kind  is  valueless.  Conse- 
quently, the  rule  persists  chiefly  in  unions  in  which  the 
control  of  the  national  union  is  slight. 

Of  far  more  importance  than  the  general  requirement  of 
the  arbitration  of  disputed  questions  is  the  increasing 
insistence  by  a  number  of  national  unions  that  all  local 
agreements  shall  contain  provisions  for  arbitration.  The 
Bricklayers  have  been  foremost  in  this  policy.  A  dis- 
astrous strike  of  the  local  unions  in  New  York  City  in  1884, 
entered  into  without  compliance  with  rules  and  against 
the  advice  of  the  executive  board  of  the  Bricklayers  and 
Masons,  led  after  much  discouragement,  great  disorganiza- 
tion, and  complete  bankruptcy  to  an  agreement  in  1885 
with  the  Mason  Builders'  Association  as  to  recognition  of 
the  local  unions,  wages  and  hours  of  labor  for  one  year, 
and  the  formation  of  a  joint  arbitration  committee  to 
meet  weekly  to  settle  disputes  between  employers  and 
employees.^^  The  results  of  this  arrangement  led  the 
convention  of  1887  to  require  that  all  local  unions  should 
have  rules  to  provide  boards  of  arbitration  for  joint  arbi- 
tration with  the  employers.^^  A  proposal  from  the  National 
Association  of  Builders  for  an  arbitration  agreement  and 
committee  was,  however,  rejected  in  1891.^^  The  con- 
vention of  1897  made  it  mandatory  upon  the  local  unions 

^  Constitution,  1903,  art.  xiii. 

^"Constitution,  1911,  art.  vi,  sec.  18. 

"  Proceedings,  1885,  pp.  15-23;  1886,  pp.  16-20. 

"  Proceedings,  1887,  p.  145. 

"Proceedings,  1891,  p.  141. 


32       CONTROL  OF  STRIKES  IN  AMERICAN  TRADE  UNIONS    [37O 

to  provide  for  the  arbitration  of  disputes  by  a  joint  board 
of  arbitration,  and  to  keep  at  work  pending  the  adjust- 
ment of  differences.^^ 

These  rules  have  led  to  the  making  of  a  number  of  local 
arbitration  agreements  and  have  been  found  on  the  whole 
to  work  well  in  practice.  The  New  York  agreement  of 
the  Bricklayers  and  Masons,  made  in  1885  and  renewed 
from  time  to  time,  averted  strikes  down  to  1904  when  a 
strike  in  violation  of  the  agreement  by  local  union  No.  67 
was  settled  by  a  general  officer.^^ 

The  Carpenters  and  Joiners  also  provide  for  arbitration 
agreements.  In  an  agreement  between  the  Carpenters 
and  Builders'  Association  and  the  United  Carpenters' 
Council  of  Chicago  in  1891  there  were  provisions  for  con- 
tinuous work  pending  settlement  by  joint  committees  of 
arbitration,  except  that  work  might  be  stopped  by  the 
joint  order  In  writing  of  the  presidents  of  the  respective 
associations  until  the  decision  of  the  joint  arbitration  com- 
mittee was  given  .^^  The  secretary  of  the  Carpenters  de- 
clared in  1890  that  many  strikes  had  been  prevented  by 
these  methods.^^  Among  other  national  unions  whose 
local  unions  are  encouraged  or  required  to  include  arbi- 
tration clauses  in  their  agreements  are  the  Bakery  and 
Confectionery  Workers,  the  Barbers,  the  Brewery  Workers, 
the  Granite  Cutters,  the  Hotel  and  Restaurant  Workers, 
the  Horseshoers,  the  Machinists,  the  Pavers,  the  Steam 
Engineers,  the  Steam  Fitters,  the  Teamsters,  the  Tile 
Layers,  and  the  Tobacco  Workers. 

In  the  greater  part  of  the  unions  which  require  the 
insertion  of  the  arbitration  clause  in  local  agreements 
arbitration  is  purely  with  reference  to  the  interpretation 
of  the  agreement.  In  certain  trades,  however,  where  the 
union  label  Is  used,  the  whole  question  of  wages  is  relegated 
to  arbitration.     The  agreement  does  not,  therefore,  cover 

"Proceedings,  1897,  pp.  70-72;  Constitution,  1897,  art.  x,  sec.  6. 
"  Thirty- ninth  Annual  Report  of  the  President  and  Secretary,  1904, 
pp.  219-229. 

^^  Articles  of  Agreement,  1891,  pp.  i,  2. 
"  Proceedings,  1890,  p.  i. 


37 1 J  ARBITRATION   AND  CONTROL  33 

the  conditions  of  employment,  but  merely  provides  a  me- 
chanism for  settling  all  disputes.  The  Boot  and  Shoe 
Workers  and  the  Glove  Workers  have  this  form  of  agree- 
ment, and  bind  themselves  to  accept  the  results  of  arbi- 
tration and  to  furnish  workers  in  case  any  of  their  members 
refuse  to  comply.^^ 

Many  local  agreements,  however,  contain  no  arbitration 
clauses.  The  assistant  mediator  of  the  State  of  New  York 
reported  in  1908  that  of  the  one  hundred  and  twenty- two 
copies  of  trade  agreements  received  during  that  year  by 
the  New  York  Bureau  of  Labor,  sixty-six  had  no  provision 
for  arbitration  in  case  of  any  dispute  between  employers 
and  employees.  "We  are  firmly  convinced  that  if  all 
trade  agreements  had  such  a  clause  many  strikes  could 
be  avoided.  Commissioner  Lundigran  has  decided  to  send 
a  letter  to  employers  and  unions  having  such  agreements 
calling  their  attention  to  the  fact  and  urging  them  at  the 
expiration  of  existing  agreements  on  their  renewal  or  the 
making  of  new  agreements  to  insert  such  a  clause. "^^ 

There  is  some  reason  to  believe  that  there  is  a  growing 
tendency  to  insert  such  clauses  in  local  agreements.     The 

^^  The  following  clauses  in  the  local  agreement  of  the  Chicago  Glove 
Workers,  191 1,  illustrate  this  class  of  arbitration  clauses. 

"Fifth: — It  is  mutually  agreed  that  the  Union  will  not  cause  or 
sanction  any  strike,  and  that  the  employer  will  not  lockout  his  em- 
ployees while  this  agreement  is  in  force.  All  questions  of  wages  or 
conditions  of  labor  which  cannot  be  mutually  agreed  upon,  or  any 
difference  which  may  arise  between  the  parties,  the  adjustment  of 
which  is  not  otherwise  provided  for,  shall  be  submitted  to  an  arbi- 
tration board  of  five,  the  employer  to  choose  two,  the  union  two,  and 
the  four  to  choose  a  fifth  member.  The  decision  of  a  majority  of  this 
Board  of  Arbitration  shall  be  final  and  binding  upon  the  Employer, 
the  Union,  and  the  Employees,  and  pending  settlement  by  arbitration, 
the  work  and  conditions  are  to  continue  in  the  same  manner  as  there- 
tofore. 

"The  Employer  and  the  Union  are  each  to  pay  the  expense  of  their 
own  arbitrators.  Any  other  expense,  first  agreed  upon,  in  connection 
with  such  arbitration  is  to  be  borne  jointly  by  the  Union  and  the 
Employer,  and  the  Employees,  and  pending  settlement  by  arbitration, 
the  work  and  conditions  are  to  continue  in  the  same  manner  as  thereto. 

"Sixth: — The  Union  agrees,  if  requested  by  the  Employer  so  to  do, 
to  assist  the  Employer  in  procuring  competent  glove  workers  to  fill  the 
places  of  any  employees  who  refuse  to  abide  by  Section  Five  of  the 
Agreement." 

^^  Granite  Cutters'  Journal,  March,  1909,  p.  2. 


34       CONTROL  OF  STRIKES  IN  AMERICAN  TRADE  UNIONS    [372 

statistics  compiled  by  the  New  York  State  Department  of 
Labor  appear  to  show  this.^*'  The  principle  of  arbitration 
has,  moreover,  been  adopted  in  several  local  agreements 
of  great  importance.  The  most  notable  instance  of  this 
kind  is  the  1 910  agreement  in  the  cloak,  suit,  and  skirt 
industry  in  New  York  City.  In  that  year,  in  settling  a 
strike,  a  protocol  or  treaty  of  peace  was  made  between 
the  Cloak,  Suit  and  Manufacturers'  Protective  Association 
and  various  local  unions  of  the  International  Ladies' 
Garment  Workers'  Union  acting  with  the  advice  and 
assistance  of  the  national  officers.  The  main  point  of  the 
agreement  is  that  no  strike  or  lockout  shall  take  place. 
In  case  of  failure  to  settle  any  dispute  a  board  of  arbitration 
is  provided  for,  consisting  of  one  nominee  of  the  manu- 
facturers, one  nominee  of  the  unions,  and  one  representative 
of  the  public.  In  addition  to  the  board  of  arbitration  a 
board  of  grievances  and  a  system  of  deputy  clerks  repre- 
senting both  the  manufacturers  and  the  unions  were  insti- 
tuted, and  thus  by  means  of  conciliation  and  mediation 
most  of  the  grievances  that  have  arisen  have  been  settled. 
Mr.  Charles  H.  Winslow  says:  "Only  one-tenth  of  i  per 
cent  of  the  grand  total  number  of  cases  that  have  arisen 
were  referred  for  final  adjudication  to  the  board  of  arbi- 
tration, the  supreme  court  of  the  trade. "^^ 

A  greater  measure  of  control  of  strikes  is  gained  when 
the  general  union  enters  into  an  agreement  directly  with 
the  employers.  The  earliest  of  these  so-called  national 
agreements  were  those  entered  into  by  Chief  Arthur  with 
various  railroads  on  behalf  of  the  Locomotive  Engineers  in 
1873  and  continued  until  the  present  day,  when  they  are 
participated  in  by  all  the  railroad  brotherhoods.  These 
agreements,  aside  from  the  details  concerning  wages  and 
hours  which  do  not  concern  us,  contain  clauses  providing 
for  right  of  appeal  and  arbitration  in  case  of  dispute.  The 
general  rules  of  the  brotherhoods  provide  for  discipline  in 
case  of  the  violation  of  any  contract  by  members.     The 

^°  New  York  State  Department  of  Labor,  Annual  Report,  191 1, 
vol.  i,  part  iii,  pp.  577-641. 

"  Bulletin,  Bureau  of  Labor  Statistics,  no.  144,  March  19,  1914,  p.  9. 


373]  ARBITRATION   AND   CONTROL  35 

Locomotive  Engineers,  the  Locomotive  Firemen  and 
Enginemen,  the  Railway  Conductors,  the  Railroad  Train- 
men, and  the  Railroad  Telegraphers,  after  their  local 
and  general  committees  and  national  representatives  have 
failed  to  bring  about  an  adjustment  of  difficulties,  usually 
appeal  to  the  mediators  designated  in  the  Erdmann  (now 
the  Newlands)  Act.  In  case  the  mediation  proceedings 
are  ineffective,  the  dispute  may  go  to  arbitration.  This 
appeal  is  usually  preceded  by  a  strike  vote;  but  this  is  not 
necessary  in  presenting  the  dispute,  as  the  mediators  are 
governed  by  the  gravity  of  an  existing  situation  in  deciding 
whether  or  not  it  should  be  considered.^^  The  settlement 
by  arbitration  of  the  controversy  between  the  Locomotive 
Engineers  in  1912  and  the  Locomotive  Firemen  in  1913 
and  the  eastern  railroads  of  the  United  States  is  an  illustra- 
tion of  the  working  of  this  act.  The  Iron  Molders  entered 
into  agreements  with  the  Stove  Founders'  National  Defense 
Association  in  1891,  and  the  National  Founders'  Associa- 
tion in  1899,  providing  for  continuance  at  work  pending 
investigation  and  consideration  of  any  grievance  by  a  joint 
board.^^  A  resolution  passed  at  the  1899  convention  and 
embodied  in  the  constitution  as  a  standing  resolution  de- 
clares that  conciliation  is  an  established  policy  of  the  union.^"* 
The  results  of  the  agreement  with  the  National  Founders' 
Association  were,  however,  unsatisfactory,  and  led  to  the 
abrogation  of  the  agreement.-^ 

During  the  eighties  a  national  uniform  wage  scale  agree- 
ment was  effected  by  the  American  Flint  Glass  Workers' 
Union  and  later  by  the  Amalgamated  Glass  Workers,  the 
Glass  Bottle  Blowers,  and  the  Window  Glass  Cutters  and 
Flatteners.  A  plan  for  the  arbitration  of  disputes  by  a 
joint  committee  was  submitted  to  the  Ohio  Valley  Stone 
Contractors'  Association  by  the  secretary-treasurer  of  the 

^  C.  P.  Neil!,  "Mediation  and  Arbitration  of  Railway  Labor  Dis- 
putes," in  Bulletin  of  the  Bureau  of  Labor,  January,  1912,  pp.  6,  14. 
2^  Proceedings,  1890,  p.  69;  1895,  pp.  13-16;  1899,  p.  6. 
^*  Proceedings,  1899,  p.  126. 
^^  Proceedings,  1902,  pp.  609,  611. 


36       CONTROL  OF  STRIKES  IN  AMERICAN  TRADE  UNIONS    [374 

Stone  Cutters  in  1892  and  resulted  in  a  mutual  agreement.^ 
The  Operative  Potters,  after  a  disastrous  strike  in  1894,  at 
their  convention  of  the  same  year  first  discussed  the  making 
of  an  agreement  with  the  manufacturers,  and  after  several 
years  of  discussion  an  agreement  was  entered  into,  to  go 
into  effect  in  1900.  This  agreement  has  been  renewed 
annually  and  no  general  strike  has  ensued  .^^  The  general 
executive  board  of  the  Bricklayers  and  Masons  since 
December,  1900,  has  entered  into  agreements  with  con- 
tractors in  various  parts  of  the  country  providing  that  all 
differences  that  may  arise  be  sent  to  headquarters  for  ad- 
justment. Pending  the  same,  no  strike  can  be  entered 
upon  by  the  members.  Since  1901  there  have  been  agree- 
ments between  the  International  Typographical,  the  Inter- 
national Printing  Pressmen's,  the  International  Stere- 
otypers  and  Electrotypers'  Unions  and  the  American 
Newspaper  Publishers'  Association,  and  since  1905  similar 
agreement  has  been  made  by  the  same  association  with  the 
International  Photo-Engravers'  Union.  The  Coopers'  In- 
ternational Union  has  had  such  agreements  with  the 
Machine  Coopers'  Employers'  Association  since  1905,  and 
the  National  Association  of  Machine  Printers  and  Color 
Mixers  of  the  United  States  with  the  Wall  Paper  Manu- 
facturers' Association  since  1909.  Practically  the  entire 
membership  of  the  United  Mine  Workers  outside  of  the 
anthracite  field  is  working  under  district  agreements. 
In  1898  at  a  joint  interstate  convention  at  Chicago  an  agree- 
ment was  made  covering  the  States  of  Illinois,  Indiana, 
Ohio,  and  Pennsylvania.^^  A  similar  agreement  was  made 
in  1903  in  the  southwestern  field  covering  Missouri,  Kansas, 
Arkansas,    and    Indian    Territory,^^     The    Coal    Hoisting 

^^  Monthly  Circular  [Stone  Cutters],  February,  1892,  Supplement, 
p.  3;  March,  p.  i. 

*'  T.  J.  Duffy,  History  of  the  Brotherhood  of  Operative  Potters, 
pp.  19-36. 

*^  Proceedings,  1899,  pp.  8,  9. 

^'  Joint  Interstate  Agreement,  1906,  p.  12;  Decisions  of  Joint  Boards 
of  Miners  and  Operators  of  Iowa,  1906;  Proceedings,  1904,  pp.  27-28. 
President  John  Mitchell  said  in  1904:  "  In  no  instance  has  a  strike  taken 
place  in  advance  of  which  we  have  not  made  overtures  for  peace  and 
exhausted  every  conciliatory  measure  at  our  command"  (Proceedings, 
1904.  p.  30). 


375]  ARBITRATION  AND   CONTROL  37 

Engineers  had  agreements  with  the  Illinois  Coal  Operators' 
Association  from  1901  to  1903  providing  for  the  reference 
of  disputes  to  officials  of  both  organizations.^^  The  Inter- 
national Longshoremen's  Association  have  also  since  1900 
entered  into  various  agreements.^^  The  Granite  Cutters 
entered  into  an  agreement  in  1907  with  the  National 
Association  of  the  Granite  Industry  of  the  United  States.^^ 
In  the  national  and  district  agreements  made  between 
national  unions  and  employers'  associations  the  national 
union  and  the  employers'  association  ordinarily  covenant 
that  there  shall  be  no  cessation  of  work  pending  an  attempt 
to  adjust  the  dispute  by  the  conference  boards  made  up  of 
an  equal  number  of  representatives  from  each  side.  The 
usual  rule  is  that  if  the  conference  board  fails  to  agree, 
either  side  may  take  such  action  as  it  sees  fit.  Very  little 
has  been  done  in  the  direction  of  providing  for  arbitration 
in  the  event  that  the  board  cannot  agree.  The  national 
and  district  agreements  obviously  throw  the  control  of 
strikes  into  the  hands  of  the  national  union,  since  the 
national  union  makes  the  agreement  and  is  responsible  for 
its  observance.  There  is  a  tendency,  therefore,  where 
such  agreements  exist  for  the  national  union  gradually  to 
extend  its  discipline  over  the  local  unions. 

*"  Agreements,  1901-1903. 
"Agreements,  1911-1912,  p.  2. 

*2  Granite  Cutters'  Journal,  July,  1907,  p.  2;  September,  1907,  p.  2; 
January,  1908,  p.  2. 


CHAPTER   IV 
The  Initiation  of  Strikes 

The  general  usage  in  strike  initiation  is  that  the  local 
union  make  some  effort  at  adjustment  of  grievances  with 
employers  before  entering  on  a  strike.  If  the  local  union 
fails  in  the  endeavor  to  settle  a  difficulty  by  conciliation  or 
arbitration,  a  representative  of  the  national  union  is  sent 
to  the  place.  If  the  national  deputy  system  does  not  exist, 
a  full  report  of  the  difficulty  is  sent  to  the  general  executive 
board  of  the  national  union  with  a  request  for  advice  or, 
more  usually,  for  sanction  to  strike.  In  unions  where  local 
autonomy  exists  the  supervision  of  the  national  union  is, 
of  course,  not  very  rigid,  but  in  unions  where  there  is 
centralization  of  control  the  local  union  must  follow  the 
directions  of  the  national  union.^ 

In  a  number  of  national  unions  the  local  unions  must 
meet  the  following  requirements  before  they  are  allowed 
to  strike  with  the  consent  or  support  of  the  national  union : 
All  local  unions  involved  must  have  been  affiliated  with  the 
national  union  a  certain  length  of  time;  they  must  have 
paid  all  dues  or  assessments,  or  they  must  be  paying  a 
certain  amount  of  dues.  The  period  of  affiliation  required 
varies  from  three  months  to  one  year,  the  usual  rule  being 
six  months.  The  purpose  of  the  second  requirement  is 
apparent,  while  the  third  is  found  in  unions  such  as  the 
Bakers,  the  Book  Binders,  the  Brewery  Workers,  and 
the  Hotel  and  Restaurant  Workers,  whose  members  do 
not  pay  uniform  dues. 

The  reason  for  these  rules,  especially  the  first,  lies  in  the 
fact  that  new  local  unions,  before  becoming  thoroughly 
organized,  are  generally  impatient  for  results  and  expect 

'  See  the  following  chapter  on  The  Independent  Strike. 

38 


II 


377]  THE   INITIATION   OF   STRIKES  39 

to  achieve  in  a  short  time  what  has  cost  other  older  local 
unions  long  continued  effort.  The  probability  of  defeat 
for  a  local  union  involved  in  a  strike  soon  after  organiza- 
tion is  strong,  and  is  given  by  some  as  the  main  reason  for 
these  rules.  "The  union  had  just  been  formed,  and  very 
frequently  there  are  men  that  think  it  is  a  part  of  their 
existence  to  give  the  boss  a  squeeze  every  time  there  is  an 
opportunity,"  said  a  general  officer  of  the  Coopers'  Union 
in  regard  to  an  inexcusable  strike  in  1871.^  "The  policy 
of  the  parent  bodies  in  this  respect  is  the  result  of  long 
and  costly  experience,"  says  an  editorial  in  the  Car  Worker, 
ending  with  the  declaration  that  "conditions,  not  theories, 
should  govern."^  Secretary  O'Dea,  in  recommending 
to  the  convention  of  1886  of  the  Bricklayers  and  Masons 
the  replacement  in  the  constitution  of  the  time  provision 
left  out  through  some  oversight  for  several  years,  said: 
"The  object  being  to  guard  against  the  admission  of  a 
Union  for  selfish  purposes,  and  to  show  their  good  intention 
of  remaining  with  us."^  The  president  of  the  Cement 
Workers  complained  in  1907,  in  regard  to  some  trouble  he 
had  been  summoned  to  adjust,  that  some  members  wanted 
to  get  everything  at  once,  and  that  new  local  unions,  as 
soon  as  they  got  cards,  expected  the  employer  to  concede 
everything.  New  local  unions,  he  said,  are  told  that  they 
should  remember  that  it  has  taken  years  of  hard  work  and 
untold  sacrifices  to  secure  the  conditions  enjoyed  by  the 
older  local  unions.^  An  additional  reason  for  the  rules  is 
the  fact  that  when  zeal  carries  a  new  local  union  into  a  strike ; 
and  defeat  ensues,  reorganization  is  likely  to  be  more  diffi- 
cult than  was  the  building  up  of  the  local  union  in  the  first 
place. 

The  constitutional  rules  governing  the  action  of  local 
unions  in  regard  to  difficulties  provide  as  far  as  possible 
for  a  calm  and  rational  consideration  of  the  question  of  a 

^  Coopers'  Journal,  July,  1871,  p.  283. 
^  The  Car  Worker,  September,  1903,  p.  3. 
*  Proceedings,  1886,  p.  49. 
^  Proceedings,  1907,  p.  7. 


40       CONTROL  OF  STRIKES  IN  AMERICAN  TRADE  UNIONS   [378 

strike.®  In  most  unions  members  must  be  notified  by 
mail  or  in  person,  or  other  sufficient  notice  given  of  any 
meeting  of  a  local  union  where  a  strike  vote  is  to  be  taken 
or  considered.  In  some  unions,  like  the  Painters,  the 
Operative  Plasterers,  the  Stogie  Makers,  and  the  Tile 
Layers,  notice  ranging  from  ten  to  ninety  days  must  be 
given  an  employer  before  enforcing  a  demand.  The  usual 
requirement  is  that  a  special  meeting  shall  be  called  for  the 
particular  consideration  of  any  grievance  and  the  taking 
of  a  strike  vote. 

The  requirement  of  most  of  the  national  unions  is  that 
in  voting  upon  a  strike  a  secret  ballot  shall  be  taken. 
The  Teamsters  provide  explicitly  that  "the  ballot  taken 
must  be  by  'yes'  or  'no,' written  on  paper  ballots."^  Unan- 
imous strike  votes  usually  arouse  the  suspicion  at  the 
general  union  headquarters  that  the  vote  was  not  taken 
in  accordance  with  the  rules.  Members  in  order  to  vote 
must  be  in  good  standing  and  must  have  been  members  of 
the  local  union  for  at  least  a  certain  period,  varying  from 
three  to  six  months  in  different  unions.  The  Granite 
Cutters  provided  in  1880  that  the  officers  of  local  branches 
should  "consult  together  and,  if  necessary,  adjourn  any 
meeting  of  importance  when,  in  their  judgment,  the  mem- 
bers are  laboring  under  too  much  excitement  to  vote 
understandingly."^ 

In  most  unions  a  decisive  vote  is  required  to  strike,  and 

this  vote  must  be  more  than  a  mere  majority.     The  general 

I  requirement  is  that  a  two- thirds  majority  is  necessary, 

I  while  a  large  number  of  unions  require  a  three-fourths 

*  Rules  to  govern  the  initiation  of  strikes  were  formulated  as  early 
as  1854  by  the  Journeymen  Stone  Cutters'  Association.  A  two-thirds 
majority  vote  of  members  present  was  necessary  to  sanction  a  strike 
for  higher  wages,  while  a  mere  majority  only  was  necessary  against  a 
reduction  (Constitution  and  By-Laws,  1854,  art.  viii).  In  1858  the 
Baltimore  branch  applied  to  the  executive  for  permission  to  strike  on 
the  first  Monday  in  June  if  necessary.  The  local  secretary  said:  "At 
the  same  time  we  wish  to  say,  if  we  are  granted  the  power  to  strike 
on  the  aforesaid  date,  we  shall  in  all  probability  defer  it,  if  at  that  time 
we  think  our  chances  of  success  are  doubtful"  (Stone  Cutters'  Circular, 
April,  1858,  p.  2). 

'  Constitution,  1910,  sec.  62. 

'  Constitution,  1880,  art.  xiii. 


379]  THE   INITIATION   OF   STRIKES  4 1 

Anajority.  The  Coopers  require  four-fifths,  and  the  Rail- 
road Clerks  sixty  per  cent. 

In  some  unions  strike  votes  are  taken  in  asking  for 
sanction  to  strike,  and  if  the  decision  of  the  general  execu- 
tive T)oard  or  the  referendum  vote  is  favorable  the  strike 
can  be  called  at  once;  but  in  the  larger  number  of  unions 
the  strike  vote  can  be  taken  only  after  a  favorable  reply 
has  been  received  from  the  general  executive  board.  The 
Brewery  Workers  require  that  after  the  consent  of  the 
national  executive  board  to  a  strike  has  been  obtained, 
the  question  shall  be  considered  by  the  local  union;  a  vote 
must  be  taken  by  ballot,  and  a  two-thirds  majority  is 
required  to  make  a  strike  legal.^  Other  unions  such  as  the 
Bookbinders,  the  Plate  Printers,  and  the  Theatrical  Stage 
Employees  require  that  a  meeting  to  take  action  must  be 
called  by  the  president  of  the  local  union  interested  within 
twenty-four  hours  after  a  strike  has  been  authorized  by  the 
general  executive  board. 

Many  national  unions  insist  that  when  there  is  more 
than  one  local  union  in  a  city  or  district  a  joint  meeting 
must  be  held  before  any  strike  can  be  ordered.  The 
Bricklayers  and  Masons  in  1885  adopted  such  a  rule  at 
their  convention,  and  provided  that  a  two-thirds  majority 
of  all  those  voting  should  be  necessary  before  any  strike 
could  be  declared .^°  The  Brush  Makers  and  the  Metal 
Polishers  do  not  allow  the  calling  in  of  a  general  officer  until 
such  a  conference  has  been  held.  The  Amalgamated 
Woodworkers  provide  that  at  such  a  general  meeting  the 
difficulty  be  considered  and  arrangements  made  for  the 
management  of  the  strike,  should  the  necessary  three- 
fourths  vote  favor  such  action."  The  usual  practice  is  for 
local  unions  situated  near  together  to  maintain  some  form 
of  standing  organization,  variously  denominated  district 
union,  district  council,  conference  board,  joint  executive 
board,  joint  standing  committee,  joint  advisory  board, 
district  executive  board,  joint  council,  local  joint  executive 

•  Constitution,  1910,  art.  x,  sec.  12. 

"  Proceedings,  1885,  p.  88. 

"  Constitution,  1905,  art.  v,  sec.  126. 


42        CONTROL  OF  STRIKES  IN  AMERICAN  TRADE  UNIONS    [38O 

board,  or  local  council.  Some  such  form  of  organization, 
together  with  reference  thereto  of  grievances  and  prelimi- 
nary action  in  regard  to  strikes,  is  required  by  some  fifty 
general  unions. 

These  standing  boards  or  committees  are  made  up  in 
various  ways.  The  Bookbinders  provide  that  the  com- 
mittee shall  consist  of  not  less  than  two  members  from 
each  local  union,  and  that  its  duty  shall  be  to  meet  at  least 
once  a  month  and  report  to  the  executive  council  of  the 
national  union  the  conditions  of  trade  and  to  endeavor  to 
adjust  any  difficulty  that  may  arise.^^  In  the  Brewery 
Workers  the  basis  of  representation  is  as  follows:  Each 
local  union  is  entitled  to  a  delegate  for  every  one  hundred 
members  or  fraction  thereof,  but  no  local  union  has  a  right 
to  send  more  than  five  delegates.  In  localities  where  no 
quorum  can  be  constituted  on  the  basis  of  representation 
as  given  above,  the  different  unions  are  required  to  form  a 
joint  local  executive  board,  consisting  of  seven  delegates, 
who  are  to  be  elected  by  the  different  local  unions  in  pro- 
portion to  their  respective  membership. ^^  The  Piano  and 
Organ  Workers  and  the  Steam  Engineers  provide  for  equal 
representation  from  each  local  union. 

The  district  councils  and  district  unions  limit  the  power 
of  the  local  unions  and  extend  the  control  of  the  national 
union  over  strikes.  They  have  full  power  usually  to 
adjust  all  differences  between  local  unions  and  their  em- 
ployers subject  to  the  approval  of  the  general  executive 
board,  which  has  usually  sole  power  to  call  a  strike.  The 
Bakery  and  Confectionery  Workers,  the  Bookbinders, 
the  Broom  Makers,  and  a  few  other  unions  provide  that 
an  appeal  can  be  taken  by  a  local  union  to  the  general 
executive  board  when  permission  to  strike  is  denied  by  the 
district  union.  The  authority  of  these  district  organiza- 
tions is  limited  directly  by  the  rule  of  the  national  union 
which  requires  that  all  by-laws  and  trade  rules  of  such 
organizations  must  be  approved  by  the  national  officials, 

"  Constitution,  1910,  art.  x,  sec.  8. 
"  Constitution,  1910,  art.  iv,  sec.  i. 


381]  THE   INITIATION   OF   STRIKES  43 

or  at  least  that  such  rules  must  not  violate  any  provision 
of  the  national  constitution.  All  these  conditions  make 
the  authority  of  the  national  union  paramount. 

In  some  national  unions,  however,  the  authority  of  the 
district  union  is  more  extensive.  The  joint  executive  board 
in  the  Piano  and  Organ  Workers,  for  example,  can  order  a 
strike  if  more  than  a  thousand  members  are  involved.^* 
The  district  unions  of  the  United  Mine  Workers  of  America 
have  power  to  declare  strikes  and  some  of  them  have  paid 
large  amounts  of  strike  benefits ;  but  the  tendency  is  towards 
control  by  the  national  officers,  especially  when  strike 
benefits  are  paid  by  the  national  organization.^^  The 
same  thing  is  true  to  a  large  extent  of  the  district  lodges 
of  the  International  Association  of  Machinists  and  of  the 
International  Brotherhood  of  Boiler  Makers.  A  large 
degree  of  control  is  exercised  by  the  district  committees 
of  the  Amalgamated  Iron,  Steel  and  Tin  Workers  of  America 
and  the  International  Tin  Plate  Workers'  Protective  Asso- 
ciation of  America.  Such  committees  have  power  after 
investigation  to  legalize  a  strike,  but  this  degree  of  local 
autonomy  is  more  apparent  than  real  because  one  of  the 
four  members  of  the  committee  is  a  national  officer,  a  vice- 
president  of  the  national  union. 

The  above  examples  are  exceptions  to  the  general  rule, 
and  the  tendency  is  toward  national  control.  President 
John  McNeil  of  the  Boiler  Makers  declared  in  1899  that 
district  lodges  should  not  call  strikes  and  that  discipline 
must  be  maintained, ^^  while  at  the  1908  convention  of  the 
same  body  President  Dunn  recommended  that  their 
authority  be  strictly  limited .^^ 

In  those  unions  where  local  autonomy  is  complete, 
neither  referendum  nor  action  by  the  general  executive 
board  is  necessary  to  sanction  a  strike;  but,  as  has  already 
been  pointed  out,  the  larger  number  of  national  unions 

"  Proceedings,  1902,  p.  90. 
"  Proceedings,  191 1,  pp.  468-511. 

"  Journal  of  the   Brotherhood  of  Boiler  Makers  and  Iron  Ship- 
builders, October,  1899,  p.  310. 
"  Ibid.,  July,  1908,  p.  429. 


44       CONTROL  OF  STRIKES  IN  AMERICAN  TRADE  UNIONS   [382 

require  executive  consent  even  in  cases  when  strike  bene- 
fits are  not  paid  by  the  national  organization.  The 
tendency  is  to  make  the  decisions  of  the  general  executive 
boards  binding  upon  the  local  unions.  The  right  of  appeal 
is,  however,  allowed  by  some  national  unions,  but  pending 
the  appeal  the  local  union  must  abide  by  the  decision  of 
the  board.  In  certain  emergencies  some  national  unions 
permit,  however,  a  local  union  to  go  on  strike  without  the 
consent  of  the  general  executive  board,  A  local  union  of 
the  Blacksmiths  has  the  power  in  case  of  emergency  to 
call  a  strike,  if  approved  by  the  local  executive  board  of  the 
district  council,  provided  such  an  emergency  strike  does 
not  involve  more  than  ten  men.  But  if  the  difficulty  in- 
volves more  than  ten  members,  no  strike  can  take  place 
without  the  consent  of  the  general  president  and  the 
executive  board. ^^  The  Coopers  provide  that  in  case  of 
discrimination  by  an  employer  against  a  member  or  in 
case  of  reduction  of  the  scale  of  wages  and  hours  the  local 
union  may  declare  a  strike  without  sanction  from  the 
general  office.^^  The  general  president  and  the  secretary- 
treasurer  of  the  Bookbinders  have  the  right  to  sanction  a 
strike  when  immediate  action  is  considered  absolutely 
necessary,  but  only  in  that  case.^°  The  Paving  Cutters 
likewise  direct  their  executive  officer,  the  secretary,  to 
support  members  in  resisting  any  condition  forced  by  an 
employer  if  instant  action  is  necessary .^^ 

Certain  definite  rules  limiting  the  number  of  strikes  are 
maintained  by  a  number  of  national  unions.  One  such 
restraint  is  the  provision  forbidding  strikes  during  certain 
seasons  of  the  year  when  trade  is  apt  to  be  dull.  The 
Bricklayers  and  Masons  passed  a  resolution  at  their  con- 
vention of  1 87 1  that  no  aid  should  be  given  by  the  national 
union  to  any  local  union  striking  between  the  15th  of 
November  and  the  15th  of  March .^^     The  Cigar  Makers 

"Constitution,  1909,  art.  viii,  sec.  i. 
^^  Constitution,  1910,  sec.  60. 
""  Constitution,  1910,  art.  x,  sec.  3. 
"  Constitution,  1909,  art.  xvii,  sec.  i. 
"  Proceedings,  187 1,  p.  25. 


383]  THE   INITIATION   OF   STRIKES  45 

in  18,81  provided  for  the  suspension  of  applications  for  an 
increase  of  wages  from  November  i,  1881,  until  April  i, 
1882,^^  and  at  the  1884  convention  an  annual  suspension 
was  made  a  part  of  the  constitution.^^  In  1885  the  rule 
was  changed  so  that  the  time  of  suspension  varied  with 
geographical  location.^^  Strikes  are  now  forbidden  during 
the  months  mentioned,  except  in  the  States  of  Virginia, 
South  Carolina,  Tennessee,  Georgia,  Florida,  Alabama, 
Mississippi,  Louisiana,  and  Texas,  where  strikes  are  for- 
bidden from  April  i  to  October  i  of  any  year.  The  Car- 
penters^.and  Joiners  likewise  provided  in  1890  that  no  gen- 
eral strike  should  be  sanctioned  from  November  i  to  April 
I.^"  One  of  the  general  officers  declared  at  the  1890  con- 
vention that  no  greater  danger  confronted  the  organization 
than  unsanctioned  strikes  begun  too  early  in  the  season. 
"Carpenters  cannot  and  should  not  strike  at  the  same  time 
in  the  season  as  Masons  and  Bricklayers.  Our  work  comes 
after  theirs,  and  our  demands  should  not  be  made  until  the 
new  work  is  well  under  way.  Early  strikes  are  attended 
almost  universally  by  defeat. "^^  The  SheetJVIetal  Workers 
passed  a  rule  in  1891  that,  except  in  case  of  extreme  provo- 
cation, no  strike  should  be  declared  between  the  first  day  of 
January  and  the  first  day  of  June  of  any  year.^^  Various 
changes  were  made  from  time  to  time  in  the  dates  at  which 
the  no-strike  period  began  and  ended,  and  the  rule  was 
finally  dropped  at  the  revision  of  the  constitution  in  1903. 
The  Piano  Workers  also  do  not  sanction  strikes  for  an 
increase  of  wages  between  the  first  day  of  June  and  the 
first  day  of  August,  and  the  first  day  of  January  and  the 
first  day  of  March  of  any  year.  Exceptions  are  made, 
however,  in  the  case  of  strikes  against  a  reduction  of  wages 

^*"  Resolved,  That  all  local  unions  suspend  applications  for  an 
increase  of  wages  from  the  commencement  of  November  1st,  1881, 
until  April  1st,  1882.  This  shall  not  be  binding  upon  unions,  who 
are  compelled  to  strike  against  those  who  have  the  'truck'  system, 
reduction  of  wages,  and  'lockouts'  forced  on  them  by  their  employers." 

"Constitution,  1884,  p.  20. 

2^  Constitution,  1886,  p.  15. 

''^Constitution,  1890,  p.  17. 

^^  Proceedings,  1890,  p.  20. 

**  Constitution,  1891,  art.  xiii,  sec.  17. 


46       CONTROL  OF  STRIKES  IN  AMERICAN  TRADE  UNIONS    [384 

or  against  the  introduction  of  the  truck  system  or  the 
contract  system.-^ 

In  addition  to  these  specific  rules,  the  policy  of  most 
strong  unions  is  against  strikes  during  periods  of  trade 
depression.  Chief  Arthur  of  the  Locomotive  Engineers 
declared  in  1894  in  regard  to  the  Chicago  Railroad  strike 
of  that  year  that  the  brotherhood  had  nothing  to  do  with 
it  as  an  organization  and  that  any  man  encouraging  a 
strike  during  hard  times  was  unfit  to  be  at  the  head  of 
»any  labor  organization.  "There  is  a  time  to  strike  if  you 
fhave  a  good  cause  and  there  is  a  time  not  to  strike. "^'^ 
•  The  general  council  of  the  Amalgamated  Woodworkers 
reported  in  1896  that  they  had  discouraged  applications 
for  strike  sanction  because  they  believed  "that  the  time, 
condition  of  trade,  and  other  factors  militated  against  the 
probability  of  success  and,  knowing  how  injurious  lost 
strikes  are,  we  adopted  a  policy  that  was  in  every  sense 
conservative."^^ 

A  more  effective  device  for  the  control  of  strikes  is  found 
in  the  limitation  of  the  number  which  may  be  carried  on 
at  one  time.  A  writer  in  1836  remarked  that  two  branches 
of  the  Philadelphia  General  Trade  Union  did  not  strike  at 
the  same  time,  and  that  because  "of  this  policy  the  general 
fund  is  not  too  heavily  taxed,  and  the  other  branches  having 
employment  can  contribute  to  it."^^  At  the  present  time, 
the  rules  of  the  Blacksmiths^^  give  the  general  executive 
board  power  to  prevent  the  general  president  from  sanc- 
tioning more  than  one  strike  at  any  one  time.  The  Sheet 
Metal  Workers  discourage  more  than  one  strike  at  a  time, 
but  provide  that  emergencies  may  be  met  by  the  general 
president  with  the  sanction  of  the  executive  board  as  the 
occasion  may  require.^^     The  Tile  Layers  explicitly  limit 

2^  Constitution,  1906,  art.  vi,  sec.  16. 

^^  Locomotive  Engineers'  Monthly  Journal,  September,  1894,  p.  847. 
"Proceedings,  1896,  p.  189. 

^^  J.   R.   Commons  and   E.   A.   Gilmore,    Documentary   History  of 
American  Industrial  Society,  vol.  vi,  p.  51. 
^'  Constitution,  1909,  art,  v,  sec.  4. 
^^  Constitution,  1909,  art.  xii,  sec.  3, 


385]  THE   INITIATION   OF   STRIKES  47 

the  number  of  strikes  at  any  given  time  to  one.^^  The 
Coopers,^®  the  Electrical  Workers ,"^^  and  the  Operative 
Plasterers^^  do  not  support  more  than  two  strikes  at  a 
time,  the  last  named  union  providing  that  "the  first  two 
strikes  shall  be  sustained  in  order  as  they  apply,  providing 
the  executive  board  decides  their  claim  is  just." 

The  gradual  growth  of  the  idea  of  limiting  the  number  of 
strikes  is  seen  in  the  history  of  the  Bricklayers  and  Masons 
and  of  the  Carpenters.  The  secretary  of  the  Bricklayers 
and  Masons  complained  in  1885  that  every  application  to 
strike,  if  properly  drawn  and  voted  for  by  the  local  unions, 
was  sanctioned  and  that  there  was  no  limit  to  the  number 
of  strikes.  This  produced  an  "endless  amount  of  confu- 
sion, ill-feeling  and  misunderstanding"  as  to  strike  assess- 
ments.^^ A  rule  was  passed  at  the  1885  convention  to  the 
effect  that  only  one  local  union  could  strike  at  a  time.^"^ 
Local  unions  desiring  to  go  on  strike  were  required  to 
wait  until  any  previous  application  for  strike  sanction 
had  been  disposed  of.  The  limitation  of  one  strike  at  a 
time  was  changed  to  three  at  the  1887  convention."*^  The 
Carpenters  and  Joiners  also  at  their  first  annual  convention 
in  1 88 1  provided  for  only  one  strike  at  a  time."*^  This  rule 
was  soon  repealed,  but  in  1890  provision  was  made  that 
when  any  strike  or  lockout  or  any  number  of  strikes  in- 
volved more  than  3000  members  no  other  strike  should 
be  sustained  or  financially  aided  at  the  same  time  by  the 
national  union  .^^  The  number  involved  was  in  1900  in- 
creased to  not  over  6000.  The  Stone  Cutters  in  1894  sub- 
stituted for  the  rule  forbidding  the  sanction  of  more  than 
two  strikes  at  one  time  a  new  rule  which  forbade  the  sanc- 
tioning of  new  strikes  when  ten  per  cent  of  the  membership 
of  the  national  union  were  on  strike.^ 

'*  Constitution,  1899,  art.  xiii,  sec.  4. 

^^Constitution,  1910,  sec.  69. 

^^  Proceedings,  191 1,  p.  60. 

^^  Constitution,  1910,  art.  vii,  sec.  16. 

28  Proceedings,  1885,  p.  34. 

"  Ibid.,  p.  65. 

"  Proceedings,  1887,  p.  139. 

*^  Constitution,  1881,  art.  xx,  sec.  4. 

*'  Constitution,  1890,  sec.  133. 

^  Proceedings,  1894,  p.  6. 


48       CONTROL  OF  STRIKES  IN  AMERICAN  TRADE  UNIONS   [386 

Another  device  intended  to  limit  the  number  of  strikes 
is  the  rule  which  forbids  a  local  union  to  make  a  second 
application  for  strike  sanction  for  the  same  grievance  until 
a  certain  period  of  time  has  elapsed  after  the  disapproval 
of  the  first.  The  Cigar  Makers'*^  fix  the  term  at  three 
months,  dating  from  the  rejection  of  the  first,  as  do  the 
Plumbers,'*^  while  the  Piano  Workers^^  make  the  period 
two  months  and  the  Blacksmiths'*^  one  month. 

Another  method  of  limiting  strikes  is  to  prohibit  all 
strikes  for  a  definite  period  by  a  vote  of  a  convention  of 
the  national  union.  President  Saffin  of  the  Iron  Molders 
in  1878,  for  instance,  renewed  his  recommendation  of  the 
previous  year  that  strikes  cease  for  one  year  and  the  money 
so  used  be  expended  in  agitation  and  in  building  up  the 
organization.^^  A  resolution  was  passed  at  the  Carriage 
and  Wagon  Workers'  convention  of  1903  to  the  effect  that 
no  local  union  should  be  permitted  to  strike  for  a  period 
of  one  year.^°  At  the  1906  convention  of  the  same  organiza- 
tion a  resolution  forbidding  strikes  for  three  years  was 
offered  and,  although  not  adopted,  is  significant  because 
of  the  reason  given  for  its  presentation.  The  author  urged 
its  adoption  "in  order  that  during  a  reign  of  industrial 
peace  the  craft  throughout  the  country  might  be  thoroughly 
organized  and  a  fund  collected  and  saved  to  insure  success 
to  those  who  by  consent  of  a  convention  or  the  Executive 
Board  may  enter  into  industrial  war."^^ 

"  Constitution,  1888,  art.  vi,  sec.  9;  1896,  20th  Edition,  sec.  87. 

*^  Constitution,  1910,  sec.  171. 

*''  Constitution,  1906,  art.  vi,  sec.  9. 

*^  Constitution,  1909,  art.  vii,  sec.  7. 

^8  Proceedings,  1878,  p.  7. 

^^  Proceedings,  1903,  p.  3. 

*i  Proceedings,  1906,  p.  6. 


CHAPTER  V 

The  Independent  Strike 

The  independent  or  unauthorized  strike  may  be  defined 
as  a  strike  inaugurated  by  the  local  union  without  the  con- 
sent of  the  ofiEicers  of  the  national  union  or  without  com- 
pliance with  the  rules  of  the  national  union.  The  extent 
of  control  on  the  part  of  the  national  unions  varies  to  a 
considerable  extent:  First,  there  are  a  number  of  national 
unions  whose  local  unions  have  complete  autonomy;  second, 
several  unions  permit  the  independent  strike  under  certain 
circumstances;  third,  a  large  number  forbid  any  strike 
without  official  sanction. 

In  the  first  group  of  national  unions,  that  is,  those  whose 
local  unions  have  complete  autonomy,  are  the  Barbers,  the 
Blast  Furnace  Workers  and  Smelters,  the  Commercial 
Telegraphers,  the  Composition  Roofers,  the  Electrical 
Workers,  the  Hod  Carriers  and  Building  Laborers,  the 
Print  Cutters,  the  Shipwrights  and  Joiners,  the  Slate  and 
Tile  Roofers,  the  Steel  Plate  Transferers,  the  Wall  Paper 
Machine  Printers  and  Color  Mixers,  the  Window  Glass 
Cutters  and  Flatteners,  and  the  Wood,  Wire  and  Metal 
Lathers. 

The  absence  of  any  control  by  the  national  unions  in 
this  group  may  be  explained  by  the  fact  that  as  there  are 
no  defense  funds,  the  local  unions  must  finance  their  own 
strikes.  When,  however,  the  national  union  pays  bene- 
fits, more  control  is  obtained.  The  Barbers,  for  instance, 
in  191 1  financed  a  strike  for  the  first  time,  and  through 
national  officers  on  the  ground  looked  after  the  interest  of 
the  national  union  from  the  initiation  to  the  close  of  the 
strike.  Even  in  the  absence  of  benefits  there  is  a  tendency 
to  discourage  hasty  or  ill-advised  strikes.  The  Hod  Car- 
riers passed  a  resolution  at  their  191 1  convention  that  all 
4  49 


50       CONTROL  OF  STRIKES  IN  AMERICAN  TRADE  UNIONS   [388 

local  unions  should  notify  the  general  office  not  less  than 
one  month  before  going  out  on  strike,  and  stipulated  that 
to  receive  moral  support  new  local  unions  must  be  chartered 
at  least  six  months  previous  to  a  strike.^ 

In  the  second  group  are  found  some  twenty  unions  be- 
longing to  the  building  trades  which  allow  their  members 
working  on  a  particular  building  to  strike  at  once  when  a 
grievance  arises.  The  reason  given  is  that  it  is  necessary 
because  of  the  need  of  prompt  action;  if  delayed,  the 
building  will  have  been  completed  and  the  men  scattered. 
A  building  is  usually  erected  by  giving  the  contract  to 
one  contractor,  who  sublets  to  many  other  contractors. 
A  strike  on  one  building  involves  only  a  few  men,  and 
unless  it  spreads  costs  but  little.  The  various  local  unions 
are  organized  usually  in  a  building-trades  council,  and  if  a 
strike  is  called  by  one  union  the  rest  go  out  in  sympathy. 
A  good  deal  of  authority  is  given  to  the  business  agent  or 
"walking  delegate,"  at  whose  discretion  such  a  strike  may 
be  called.  The  rise  of  the  large  contractor  and  the  making 
of  agreements  are,  however,  influences  tending  to  the 
abolition  of  the  single-building  strike.  The  Bricklayers 
and  Masons,  for  instance,  prohibit  all  such  sympathetic 
strikes  and  provide  for  agreements  and  arbitration.  The 
work  of  this  union  is  ordinarily  under  the  general  con- 
tractor and  not  under  a  subcontractor,  and  as  it  usually 
comes  first  in  point  of  time  additional  strength  is  thus 
gained  in  strike  control.  But  even  a  general  local  strike 
may  be  entered  into  by  local  organizations  among  many 
building-trades  unions  provided  they  pay  their  own  ex- 
penses and  do  not  appeal  to  the  general  union  for  strike 
benefits. 

Several  other  national  unions,  such  as  the  Bill  Posters, 
the  Brewery  Workers,  the  Cap  Makers,  the  Cloth  Weavers, 
the  Hotel  and  Restaurant  W^orkers,  the  Ladies'  Garment 
Workers,  the  Stogie  Makers,  the  Teamsters,  and  the 
Theatrical  Stage  Employees,  also  allow  their  local  unions 
under  certain   conditions   to   strike  without   the   consent 

^  Proceedings,  191 1,  p.  19. 


389]  THE    INDEPENDENT    STRIKE  5I 

of  the  national  union.  The  general  rule  in  these  unions 
is  that  in  an  emergency  involving  only  a  small  number  of 
men  or  in  a  case  where  no  financial  assistance  is  expected, 
the  local  union  may  strike  independently.  Local  unions 
of  the  Cloth  Weavers,  for  instance,  are  allowed  to  strike 
on  their  own  responsibility  for  the  first  four  weeks;  after 
that  time  the  national  union  assumes  charge  of  the  strike, 
provided  that  after  investigation  the  local  union  is  found 
to  have  been  justified  in  striking.^  No  strike  benefits  are 
paid  by  the  Hotel  and  Restaurant  Workers  unless  the 
strike  has  been  sanctioned  by  the  general  executive  board 
before  being  ordered,  but  they  do  not  "deprive  any  of 
their  local  unions  of  the  right  to  strike  whenever  they  feel 
their  interests  can  only  be  served  by  such  a  course."  The 
local  union  so  striking  does  so,  however,  upon  its  own 
resources  and  at  its  own  risk,  and  has  no  financial  claim 
either  upon  the  national  union  or  upon  the  other  local 
unions.  Strikes  for  higher  wages  may  be  entered  into  by 
the  local  unions  of  the  Stogie  Makers  without  the  consent 
of  the  national  executive  board  if  the  local  union  finances 
the  strike.^  The  local  unions  of  the  Ladies'  Garment 
Workers  may  strike  without  the  moral  and  financial  sup- 
port of  the  general  union,  but  if  more  than  one  local  union 
is  concerned  sanction  is  necessary.  The  general  officers 
insist,  however,  that  more  authority  on  their  part  is  needed.'* 
The  national  unions  in  the  third  group  forbid  their  local 
unions  to  go  on  strike  without  official  sanction.  Any  strike 
entered  upon  without  such  sanction  is  termed  illegal.  In 
this  group  may  be  found  the  Brewery  Workers,  the  Brick- 
layers and  Masons,  the  Cigar  Makers,  the  Coopers,  the 
Broom  Makers,  the  Brick,  Tile,  and  Terra  Cotta  Workers, 
the  Compressed  Air  Workers,  the  Cutting  Die  and  Cutter 
Makers,  the  Elastic  Goring  Weavers,  the  Elevator  Con- 
structors, the  Glove  Workers,  the  Hatters,  the  Iron,  Steel 
and  Tin  Workers,  the  Machinists,  the  Maintenance  of 
Way  Employees,  the  Meat  Cutters,  the  Metal  Polishers, 

^  Constitution,  1909,  p.  7. 

*  Constitution,  1909,  art.  v,  sec.  7. 

*  Constitution,  191 1,  pp.  39-40;  Proceedings,  1910,  p.  19. 


52       CONTROL  OF  STRIKES  IN  AMERICAN  TRADE  UNIONS    [39O 

the  Iron  Molders,  the  Paper  Makers,  the  Pulp  Workers,  the 
Pavers,  the  Paving  Cutters,  the  Printers,  the  Quarry 
Workers,  the  Locomotive  Engineers,  the  Locomotive  Fire- 
men, the  Railroad  Trainmen,  the  Railroad  Telegraphers, 
the  Railroad  Expressmen,  the  Retail  Clerks,  the  Saw  Smiths, 
the  Seamen,  the  Slate  Workers,  the  Street  and  Electric 
Railway  Employes,  the  Switchmen,  the  Tin  Plate  Workers, 
the  United  Mine  Workers,  the  United  Powder  Workers,  the 
Wire  Weavers,  the  Window  Glass  Workers,  the  Flint  Glass 
Workers,  the  Printing  Pressmen,  the  Photo-Engravers, 
and  the  Operative  Potters. 

The  abolition  in  this  third  group  of  the  independent 
strike  on  the  part  of  local  unions  has  been  brought  about 
only  after  many  years  of  effort  and  experimentation.  The 
evolution  which  in  many  respects  is  common  to  all  may 
be  best  illustrated  by  a  brief  consideration  of  the  history 
of  several  typical  organizations.  These  unions  have  found 
it  necessary  to  prevent  the  independent  strike  because  of 
its  destructive  effects  not  only  on  the  local  union  but  also 
on  the  national  organization.  In  addition,  the  influence 
of  agreements  and  of  the  sympathetic  strike  has  been 
particularly  important  in  bringing  the  independent  strike 
to  an  end. 

The  Iron  Molders  have  always  been  a  militant  union. 
As  early  as  1866  one  of  their  local  unions  declared  its 
intention  to  strike  with  or  without  permission  of  the 
national  union. ^  President  Saffin  declared  in  1873  that 
the  greatest  drawback  for  many  years  to  their  progress  as 
an  organization  had  been  the  large  number  of  illegal  strikes 
and  that  the  progress  of  the  three  preceding  years  had 
been  due  to  the  rigid  enforcement  of  strike  laws.^  Again 
in  1875  he  declared  that  "strikes  in  violation  of  law,  ending 
in  defeat,  always  end  in  the  destruction  of  the  union. 
Blind  zeal  is  not  enough."^  Illegal  strikes,  however,  con- 
tinued in  spite  of  these  warnings,  and  the  convention  of 
1882  placed  the  sanction  of  strikes  in  the  hands  of  the 

*  International  Journal  [Iron  Molders],  November,  1866,  p.  256. 

*  Ibid.,  April,  1873,  p.  I. 

'  Iron  Molders'  Journal,  September,  1875,  p.  425. 


39l]  THE   INDEPENDENT   STRIKE  53 

national  president  and  executive  board.  To  enforce  this 
arrangement  the  penalty  of  expulsion,  afterwards  changed 
to  suspension,  was  provided.^  In  1886  an  illegal  strike, 
originating  in  Cincinnati  and  embracing  during  its  nine 
months'  duration  many  thousand  molders  in  the  Central 
West,  was  a  failure  on  account  of  trade  conditions.  It  was 
declared  again  at  the  convention  of  1886  that  the  inde- 
pendent strike  should  not  be  allowed.  Local  unions,  how- 
ever, protested  that,  if  they  were  held  down  too  closely  to 
the  rule  and  had  to  submit  their  grievances  to  the  national 
executive  board,  they  would  lose  their  best  opportunity  to 
strike.^  Two  independent  strikes  took  place  in  1901  after 
sanction  had  been  denied  by  the  executive  board, — "the 
first  instance  in  many  years,"  declared  President  Fox, 
"wherein  locals  have  persisted  as  a  body  in  an  attitude  of 
open  defiance  of  the  National  Union."  Other  local  unions 
were  encouraged  to  attempt  the  same  policy.  The  matter 
was  taken  up  at  the  convention  of  1902,  and  the  Chicago 
conference  board  was  persuaded  to  declare  the  independent 
strike  off  in  that  city,  and  to  secure  sanction  by  making 
application  in  the  usual  way.^°  It  was  also  made  manda- 
tory upon  the  president  and  the  executive  board  to  suspend 
all  members  participating  in  unsanctioned  strikes  and  to 
have  their  suspension  recorded  if  such  insubordination 
continued  .^^ 

A  gradual  development  took  place  also  in  the  Cigar 
Makers'  Union.  As  early  as  1873  the  national  union  had 
inaugurated  the  policy  of  attempting  to  arbitrate  griev- 
ances before  calling  a  strike  and  of  referring  proposed 
strikes  to  the  national  organization.^-  In  1876  control  of 
strikes  was  not  very  effective,  and  the  official  editor  wrote: 
"The  disposition  to  strike  on  almost  every  occasion  has 
produced  the  greatest  demoralization  to  our  whole  organiza- 

*  Proceedings,  p.  76;  Constitution,  1888,  art.  vii,  sec.  2. 
^  Proceedings,  1886,  pp.  9,  17. 
^°  Proceedings,  1902,  pp.  615,  729. 

"Iron  Holders'  Journal,  September,  1907,  p.  652;  Constitution, 
1907,  art.  vii,  sec.  3. 

12  Cigar  Makers'  Official  Journal,  September,  1873,  p.  6. 


54       CONTROL  OF  STRIKES  IN  AMERICAN  TRADE  UNIONS   [392 

tion."^^  President  Strasser  declared  in  1880  that  "the 
safety  and  future  of  our  union  demands  that  all  unauthor- 
ized strikes  be  stopped  because  in  the  long  run  they  will 
surely  be  failures."  In  1881  the  official  editor  said  the 
constitution  provided  that  only  those  strikes  officially 
sanctioned  could  be  supported  financially,  and  urged  that 
the  national  officers  be  trusted  by  the  local  unions  in 
authorizing  strikes.^^  In  1884  the  rule  was  strengthened 
by  providing  that  "no  member  or  union  shall  be  considered 
on  strike  unless  said  strike  shall  have  been  approved  by  the 
proper  authorities  of  the  International  Union. "^^  The 
disastrous  results  of  a  strike  in  Cincinnati  in  1884,  entered 
into  against  the  advice  of  the  national  officials,  made  clear 
the  necessity  of  adopting  some  means  to  compel  local  unions 
to  settle  their  grievances  in  accordance  with  the  interests  of 
the  national  organization.  The  result  of  this  long  and 
bitter  contest,  brought  on  by  the  refusal  to  arbitrate,  was 
the  passage  of  a  rule  at  the  convention  of  1885  at  Cincin- 
nati authorizing  the  executive  board  to  appoint  an  arbi- 
tration board  to  act  with  the  local  committee.  The  arbi- 
tration board  was  given  power  to  force  a  conference,  and 
the  results  of  such  conference  were  to  be  binding,  even  if 
not  agreeable  to  the  local  union  involved,  if  approved  by  a 
general  vote.^®  In  the  report  of  President  Strasser  at  the 
convention  of  1887  he  said:  "Our  unions  have  gradually 
recognized  the  necessity  of  discipline  and  the  enforcement 
of  our  laws  governing  the  management  of  strikes.  Inde- 
pendent strikes  have  become  a  matter  of  the  past,  not  to 
be  revived  or  tolerated  again." 

The  Carpenters  and  Joiners  since  their  organization  in 
1 88 1  have  required  that  their  local  unions  in  order  to 
receive  assistance  shall  obtain  the  authority  of  the  general 
executive  board  before  striking.^^  In  1894  detailed  move- 
ments were  declared  to  be  better  than  local  ones,  while 

"  Cigar  Makers'  Official  Journal,  March,  1876,  p.  4. 

"  Ibid.,  April,  1881,  p.  i. 

"Constitution,  1884,  p.  19. 

"^  Proceedings,  1885,  p.  6;  Constitution,  1885,  p.  15. 

^''  Constitution,  1881,  art.  xx,  sec.  8. 


393]  THE  INDEPENDENT   STRIKE  55 

today  a  local  union  engaging  in  a  general  strike  without 
sanction  renders  itself  liable  to  expulsion  .^^ 

Among  the  unions  which  forbid  independent  strikes 
there  are  marked  differences  in  the  efficacy  of  such  rules, 
and  unauthorized  strikes  occur  at  times.  The  tendency, 
however,  is  toward  a  more  rigid  enforcement  of  discipline 
through  the  infliction  of  penalties.  There  are  a  number  of 
unions  in  this  class — the  Boot  and  Shoe  Workers,  the 
Bookbinders,  the  Brewery  Workmen,  the  Iron,  Steel  and 
Tin  Workers,  the  Locomotive  Engineers,  the  Locomotive 
Firemen,  the  Railroad  Trainmen,  the  Switchmen,  the  Rail- 
road Telegraphers,  the  Railway  Carmen,  the  Railway 
Clerks,  the  Street  and  Electric  Railway  Employees,  the 
Printers,  the  Stereotypers,  the  Photo-Engravers,  the 
Pressmen,  the  Railway  Conductors,  the  Operative  Potters, 
and  the  United  Mine  Workers — in  which  unauthorized 
strikes  are  effectually  punished  by  filling  the  places  of  the 
strikers,  by  withdrawing  the  charter  of  the  local  union,  or 
by  expelling  the  strikers.  The  policies  of  the  Printers  and 
of  the  various  railway  brotherhoods  illustrate  this  evolution. 

When  the  "defense  fund"  was  established  in  the  Typo- 
graphical Union,  aid  was  given  only  in  case  the  strike  was 
sanctioned  by  the  executive  council.  Many  of  the  larger 
unions  continued,  however,  to  finance  their  own  strikes  and 
did  not  seek  authorization.  Professor  Barnett  has  de- 
scribed this:  "Although  the  'general  laws'  of  the  Inter- 
national required  that  no  strike  or  lockout  should  be 
'deemed  legal'  unless  'authorized  or  recognized  by  the 
executive  council,'  and,  also  that  'to  affect  union  men 
prejudicially  to  their  standing  in  the  Union  the  strike  must 
have  been  authorized  in  accordance  with  the  International 
law,'  local  unions  frequently  disregarded  these  provisions 
and  declared  strikes  without  consulting  the  executive  com- 
mittee. As  the  interests  of  the  union  became  more  fully 
nationalized  and  a  national  policy  developed,  the  members 
came  to  realize  that  a  striking  union,  even  though  it  paid 
its  own  expenses,  might  seriously  imperil  the  success  of  an 

^^  Proceedings,  1894,  p.  26;  Constitution,  191 1,  sec.  139. 


56       CONTROL  OF  STRIKES  IN  AMERICAN  TRADE  UNIONS    [394 

International  policy.  The  unhappy  outcome  of  two  un- 
sanctioned strikes  in  the  fiscal  year  1903-04  led  to  the 
enactment  by  the  session  of  the  International  in  1904  of  a 
rule  which  required  the  council  to  '  immediately  disown '  all 
strikes  occurring  without  its  sanction,  and  'to  guarantee 
protection  to  all  members  who  remain  at,  accept,  or  return 
to  work  in  offices  affected  by  an  illegal  strike.'  "^^  In  1904 
President  Lynch  said:  "If  the  law  is  not  strong  enough  and 
explicit  enough  to  prevent  unauthorized  strikes,  then  change 
should  be  made."^° 

The  railroad  brotherhoods  allow  no  strikes  except  those 
authorized  in  accordance  with  the  laws  of  the  national 
union.  Members  inciting  or  taking  part  in  an  unauthorized 
strike  are  on  conviction  expelled;  and  if  a  lodge  fails  to  ex- 
pel within  ten  days  such  striking  members,  its  charter  may 
be  revoked  by  the  head  of  the  order,  who  is  directed  to 
transfer  to  other  lodges  or  system  divisions  all  members  not 
participating  in  the  refusal  to  expel. 

The  railway  brotherhoods  have  practically  identical 
methods  as  to  the  control  of  strikes,  for  the  reason  that 
they  are  employed  by  the  same  corporations,  have  worked 
together  many  times  in  the  settling  of  grievances,  have  had 
to  a  large  extent  a  similar  history,  and  are  today  bound  by 
common  agreements  with  the  railroads  which  must  be  en- 
forced by  their  officers.  The  strike  rules  of  one  order  have 
been  taken  also  as  a  model  by  another,  as  in  the  case  of  the 
Conductors  in  1891,  who  made  free  use  of  the  rules  of  the 
Locomotive  Firemen  .^^ 

The  Brotherhood  of  Locomotive  Engineers,  the  oldest 
and  perhaps  the  strongest  of  the  railroad  brotherhoods,  has 
always  opposed  unauthorized  strikes.  A  proposed  act  of 
federal  incorporation  brought  up  at  the  convention  of  1871 
provided  that  any  subdivisions  organized  under  the  act 
which  "shall  by  their  advice  and  counsel  induce  any  en- 
gineer or  engineers,  to  interfere  by  a  strike  with  the  trans- 

"  Barnett,  The  Printers,  p.  323. 
*"  Proceedings,  1904,  p.  5. 

^1  Proceedings  of  the  Order  of  Railroad  Conductors,  1891,  pp.  341, 
347- 


395]  THE   INDEPENDENT   STRIKE  57 

portation  of  the  mails  or  other  Government  property,  or 
who  shall  refuse  to  expel  any  of  their  members  who  shall 
so  interfere,  shall  forfeit  their  Charter  and  all  the  right  and 
interests  they  may  have  in  any  common  fund  of  the  Brother- 
hood that  may  be  accumulated  at  that  time."^^  Through 
the  efforts  of  Grand  Chief  Engineer  Arthur  thirteen  agree- 
ments were  made  from  1874  to  1877  with  various  railroads 
providing  for  wages,  promotion,  and  arbitration  of  difficul- 
ties. This  policy  has  been  continued  until  the  present  day. 
The  Order  of  Railway  Conductors  during  its  early  history 
was  a  non-striking  organization.  The  necessity  of  definite 
laws  distinguishing  legal  from  illegal  strikes  was  brought 
out  clearly  by  a  strike  in  April,  1891,  on  the  Union  Pacific 
Railroad  when  some  of  its  members  went  on  strike  without 
consulting  the  grand  chief  conductor  or  any  head  officer  of 
the  order  and  without  any  meeting  or  consultation  con- 
cerning grievances  with  the  railroad  officials.  In  settling 
the  strike  Grand  Chief  Conductor  Clark  called  in  to  assist 
him  Grand  Master  F.  P.  Sargent,  of  the  Brotherhood  of 
Locomotive  Firemen,  and  Grand  Master  S.  E.  Wilkinson, 
of  the  Brotherhood  of  Railway  Trainmen,  and  the  three 
agreed  that  the  action  of  the  men  was  radical,  ill-advised, 
and  unreasonable.  This  strike  led  Grand  Chief  Conductor 
Clark  to  say:  "The  time  has  come  when  it  is  absolutely 
necessary  for  all  organizations  in  Railroad  service  to  lay 
down  a  definite  line  between  a  strike  legally  authorized  by 
an  organization,  and  a  wild-cat  strike  which  is  inaugurated 
by  irresponsible  individuals.  Certainly,  if  the  members  of 
these  organizations  are  going  to  follow  the  lead  of  every 
irresponsible  individual  who  declares  himself  on  a  strike, 
there  is  no  further  use  for  organization."^^  The  conven- 
tion of  1 89 1,  to  which  these  words  were  addressed,  enacted 
strike  laws  which  remain  substantially  unchanged  today. 
The  rule  was  then  adopted  that  any  member  engaging  in  a 
strike  not  legally  authorized  should  be  expelled  on  con- 
viction.^^ 

^"Proceedings,  1871,  p.  40. 
^^  Proceedings,  1 89 1,  p.  21. 
^*  Ibid.,  p.  347. 


58       CONTROL  OF  STRIKES  IN  AMERICAN  TRADE  UNIONS    [396 

In  1888  the  Brotherhood  of  Railroad  Brakemen,  whose 
title  was  changed  in  1889  to  the  Brotherhood  of  Railroad 
Trainmen,  adopted  a  rule  in  convention  to  the  effect  that 
all  members  should  hold  themselves  in  duty  bound  to  keep 
in  good  faith  any  agreement  entered  into  by  any  railroad 
and  the  representatives  of  the  brotherhood.  Any  violation 
of  such  agreements  by  any  member  was  to  be  punished  by 
expulsion.^^  In  1889  it  was  made  the  duty  of  the  grand 
master  to  suspend  at  once  the  charter  of  any  lodge  refusing 
to  carry  out  the  instructions  of  the  general  grievance  com- 
mittee, and  in  1891  it  was  provided  that  any  member  or 
members  inciting  a  strike  or  participating  in  one,  except  as 
provided  by  the  rules  of  the  order,  should  upon  conviction 
be  expelled.^®  The  convention  of  1893  strengthened  the 
rules  against  strikes  as  follows:  (i)  members  inciting  or 
participating  in  an  unauthorized  strike  to  be  expelled; 
(2)  the  lodge  in  whose  jurisdiction  an  unauthorized  strike 
occurs  to  expel  within  ten  days  all  members  engaged  in 
such  strike;  (3)  the  charter  of  the  lodge  failing  to  expel 
within  ten  days  members  so  engaged  to  be  revoked  by  the 
grand  master,  who  is  then  obliged  to  transfer  the  non- 
striking  members  to  other  lodges;  and  (4)  no  member  under 
charges  of  taking  part  in  an  unauthorized  strike  to  be 
granted  a  travelling,  transfer,  or  withdrawal  card.^^  These 
rules,  phrased  in  identical  language,  govern  the  Locomotive 
Firemen,^^  the  Railway  Clerks,^^  the  Maintenance-of-Way 
Employes,^"  and  the  Railway  Carmen. 

A  determining  experience  against  illegal  strikes,  as  far 
as  the  railroad  brotherhoods  are  concerned,  was  the  Pull- 
man strike  of  1894  and  the  calling  out  of  railway  employees 
in  a  sympathetic  strike  by  the  American  Railway  Union, 
This  latter  organization  was  formed  in  1893,  and,  unlike 
the  older  brotherhoods,  embraced  in  its  membership  men 
from  all  branches  of  the  railroad  service.     Its  officers  were 


^  Constitution,  1888,  General  Rules,  sec.  13,  p.  27. 

''^Constitution,  1889,  sec.  26,  p.  26;  1891,  General  Rules,  10,  p.  30. 

"  Constitution,  1893,  p.  30. 

2^  Constitution,  1894,  p.  68. 

^^  Protective  Laws  [n.  d.],  art.  vi,  sec.  I. 

'"Constitution,  1907,  p.  31. 


i 


397]  THE   INDEPENDENT   STRIKE  59 

for  the  most  part  former  brotherhood  officials,  its  president, 
Eugene  V.  Debs,  having  been  connected  in  an  official 
capacity  with  the  Brotherhood  of  Locomotive  Firemen  for 
some  sixteen  years,  and  its  vice-president,  George  W. 
Howard,  having  been  grand  chief  conductor  of  the  Order 
of  Railway  Conductors. 

The  position  taken  by  the  brotherhoods  during  the 
strike  was  that  they  would  expect  their  members  to  per- 
form their  proper,  regular,  and  customary  duties,  but  that 
their  members  must  not  be  forced  to  perform  duties  not 
properly  their  own.  Members  were  warned  that  if  they  left 
off  work  voluntarily  or  were  dismissed  for  refusing  to  per- 
form their  proper  and  customary  duties  they  could  not 
expect  any  support  from  the  brotherhoods.  A  number  of 
members,  including  some  leading  officers,  were  expelled 
later  for  violations  of  their  obligations.^^  Two  years  later 
Grand  Chief  Arthur  of  the  Locomotive  Engineers,  in  com- 
menting on  this  strike,  which  caused  President  Cleveland 
to  send  troops  to  Chicago,  said:  "Experience  has  proved 
that  strikes  and  lockouts  which  lead  to  violence  and  de- 
struction of  property  afford  no  satisfactory  relief.  Workers 
can  not  afford  to  resist  the  law."^^ 

Many  of  the  members  of  the  Switchmen's  Mutual  Aid 
Association  took  part  in  the  strike  without  the  sanction  of 
their  officials.  The  officers  of  the  association  stood  by  the 
rules  and  the  validity  of  existing  agreements.  Grand 
Master  Barrett  declared  that  there  would  be  no  order  issued 
to  participate  in  the  strike  while  he  was  grand  master.^^ 
By  the  members  striking  "at  the  drop  of  the  hat"  some 
2800  men  lost  their  positions,  and  the  result  was  the  dis- 
ruption of  the  association.  The  switchmen  reorganized  as 
the  Switchmen's  Union  of  North  America  in  October  of  the 
same  year,  1894,  and  have  since  laid  much  emphasis  on 
rules  providing  for  the  expulsion  of  any  member  engaging 
in  a  sympathetic,  illegal  strike,^'* 

^^  Proceedings  of  the  Order  of  Railway  Conductors,  1895,  pp.  19-21. 
^^  Locomotive  Engineers'  Monthly  Journal,  June,  1896,  p.  511. 
''  Railroad  Trainmen's  Journal,  August,  1894,  p.  692. 
^*  Switchmen's  Journal,  August,  1902,  p.  1199;  Proceedings,  1909, 
p.  38;  Constitution,  1909,  sec.  264. 


6o       CONTROL  OF  STRIKES  IN  AMERICAN  TRADE  UNIONS    [398 

The  Locomotive  Firemen  did  not  join  in  the  strike.  As 
President  Debs  of  the  American  Railway  Union  had  been 
the  secretary  and  treasurer  of  the  Firemen,  it  was  expected 
that  his  influence  would  be  large.  A  statement  which  he 
had  made  during  the  Switchmen's  strike  at  Buffalo  in  1892, 
while  secretary  and  treasurer  of  the  Firemen,  was  quoted 
effectively  against  his  later  position.  In  1892  he  had  said: 
"The  grand  master,  nor  any  other  grand  officer,  nor  all  of 
them  combined  cannot  order  a  strike  under  any  conceivable 
circumstances,  and  this  is  practically  true  of  grand  officers 
of  all  other  organizations  of  railway  employes.  In  just 
one  way  a  strike  can  be  legally  authorized,  and  that  is  by 
a  two- thirds  vote  of  the  members  on  the  whole  system. 
The  grand  master  has  no  more  authority  to  order  a  strike 
than  you  have  to  declare  war  against  Canada.  A  sympathy 
strike  is  simply  out  of  the  question  under  our  present  laws, 
and  I  think  I  should  know  what  the  laws  are,  for,  with  the 
exception  of  a  paragraph  or  two  of  minor  importance,  I 
drafted  them  all.  Our  laws  provide  explicitly  that  only 
the  grievance  of  a  member  of  our  ov/n  order  can  be  con- 
sidered and  that,  if  a  strike  is  inaugurated  or  participated 
in  under  any  other  circumstances,  the  members  so  offending 
shall  be  expelled. "^^  The  Firemen  met  in  convention  in 
October,  1894,  and  besides  receiving  the  resignation  of 
Mr.  Debs  from  the  editorship  of  the  Locomotive  Firemen's 
Magazine,  the  official  journal  with  which  he  had  been  con- 
nected for  some  sixteen  years,  strengthened  materially  the 
rules  against  unauthorized  strikes,  and  defined  more  clearly 
the  penalties  for  participation  in  an  unauthorized  strike.^^ 
The  convention  was  not  satisfied,  however,  with  thus 
amending  the  constitution,  but  it  also  condemned  viola- 
tions of  agreements  and  unauthorized  strikes  as  "irrational, 
fanatical  and  illogical,  and  injurious  to  both  employer  and 
employe."  The  brotherhood's  position  was  further  de- 
fined in  two  strong  resolutions.^^ 

^5  Locomotive  Engineers'  Monthly  Journal,  August,  1894,  p.  740. 
^^  Constitution,  1894,  sec.  221. 

''  The  text  of  these  resolutions  was  as  follows:  "Resolved,  That  it 
is  the  sense  of  this,  the  fourth  biennial  convention  in  Harrisburg  as- 


399]  THE   INDEPENDENT   STRIKE  6 1 

Sympathetic  strikes  constitute  a  peculiarly  insidious 
form  of  the  independent  strike.  The  idea  back  of  the 
sympathetic  strike  is  that  "an  injury  to  one  is  an  injury 
to  all."  The  downfall  of  the  Knights  of  St.  Crispin,  the 
Knights  of  Labor,  and  the  American  Railway  Union — all 
of  which  were  wrecked  by  sympathetic  strikes — points  to 
this  conclusion.  Moreover,  the  interests  of  the  various 
classes  of  laborers  are  by  no  means  identical.  The  railroad 
engineers  and  the  railroad  telegraphers,  for  example,  have 
little  in  common;  the  first  are  highly  trained  and  receive 
high  wages,  and  the  others  have  comparatively  little  training 
and  receive  low  wages.  Machinists  and  hod  carriers  pre- 
sent a  still  stronger  contrast.  It  is  not  uncommon  for  the 
union  going  out  on  a  sympathetic  strike  to  have  had  no 
opportunity  to  prevent  the  strike. 

Not  only  the  railroad  brotherhoods  but  many  of  the  other 
national  unions  have  passed  rules  to  guard  against  local 
unions  being  swept  off  their  feet  by  emotional  appeals. 
The  Granite  Cutters,  for  instance,  in  1880  provided  that 
no  local  branch  should  enter  into  any  arrangements  with 
any  other  trade  which  might  lead  to  any  expense  to  the 
national  union  without  a  general  vote  of  the  members  in 
good  standing.^^  The  Painters  allow  no  local  union  ex- 
pecting help  to  enter  into  a  sympathetic  strike  in  aid  of 
other  than  building-trade  unions  without  the  consent  of 
the  general  executive  board .^^     The  prohibition  of  dual 

sembled,  to  denounce  such  action  on  the  pare  of  our  members,  and 
that  in  the  future  we  shall  insist  that  they  live  strictly  up  to  the  laws 
of  the  order  and  the  contracts  under  which  they  are  working  at  all 
times  and  in  all  places,  and  we  emphatically  declare  that  v/hen  we  enter 
into  an  agreement  with  any  railroad  company  to  follow  such  agree- 
ment to  the  letter  in  accordance  with  the  laws  of  the  order.  And 
further  be  it 

"  Resolved,  That  we  demand  on  the  part  of  the  other  labor  organiza- 
tions not  to  interfere  with  the  members  of  the  Brotherhood  of  Loco- 
motive Firemen  while  working  under  such  contracts,  and  it  is  the  sense 
of  this  body  that  so  long  as  we  are  not  asked  to  perform  work  outside 
of  our  particular  line  of  duty  we  will  comply  with  any  agreement 
entered  into  with  any  railroad  company"  (Constitution,  1896,  p.  84; 
Proceedings,  1894,  p.  582). 

'^  Constitution,  1880,  art.  xxii. 

^'  Constitution,  191 1,  sec.  79. 


62       CONTROL  OF  STRIKES  IN  AMERICAN  TRADE  UNIONS   [4OO 

membership  and  obligation,  as  by  the  Locomotive  Engineers 
in  1884,  is  designed  to  prevent  the  members  of  the  brother- 
hood being  involved  with  other  organizations.^"  The  Book- 
binders were  asked  in  1894  to  call  out  the  bookbinders  of 
Chicago  and  to  levy  an  assessment  for  their  support  in 
sympathy  with  the  American  Railroad  Union.  The 
matter  being  brought  up  in  the  executive  council  of  the 
Bookbinders,  the  conclusion  was  reached  that  the  consti- 
tution prevented  the  council  from  even  considering  the 
proposition.'*^ 

The  desirability  of  a  general  rule  in  regard  to  S5mipathetic 
strikes  led  the  Iron  Molders  at  the  convention  of  1899  to 
adopt  a  standing  resolution  to  the  effect  that  the  Molders 
could  cooperate  with  other  unions  only  when  the  grievance 
was  submitted  and  the  request  made  before  the  struggle 
was  begun  and  after  it  had  been  endorsed  by  the  Molders' 
president  and  executive  board  in  the  usual  way."*^  The 
Stove  Mounters  and  the  Metal  Polishers  have  similar  laws. 
The  Amalgamated  Woodworkers  declare  that  in  all  sympa- 
thetic strikes  local  unions  must  act  entirely  upon  their  own 
responsibility,  and  their  action  does  not  in  any  way  com- 
promise the  general  council  until  the  strike  has  been 
approved  .^^  The  Carriage  and  Wagon  Workers  likewise 
insist  on  a  thorough  investigation  by  the  national  union, 
and  then  allow  such  strikes  only  with  the  consent  of  that 
body.^  The  executive  board  of  the  Stone  Cutters  refused 
in  1901  to  support  the  Peoria,  111.,  branch  in  a  strike  in 
sympathy  with  the  building-trades  council,  and  in  explana- 
tion the  general  secretary- treasurer  wrote  that  "the  execu- 
tive board  does  not  recognize  any  organization  but  a  stone 
cutter's. "^^  The  president  of  the  Boiler  Makers  in  his 
report  to  the  convention  of  1906  cautioned  his  organiza- 
tion against  entering  into  strikes  with  other  organizations, 

"  Locomotive  Engineers'  Monthly  Journal,  November,  1905,  p.  997. 

*' Proceedings,  1895,  p.  11. 

*^  Proceedings,  1899,  P-  IQI- 

**  Constitution,  1905,  sec.  133. 

"  Proceedings,  1906,  p.  13;  Constitution,  191 1,  art.  x,  sec.  6. 

**  Stone  Cutters'  Journal,  February,  1901,  p.  7, 


40 1  ]  THE   INDEPENDENT   STRIKE  63 

especially  when  not  consulted  or  considered  before  the 
original  strike  took  place. ^^ 

The  Stove  Mounters  in  St.  Louis,  Mo.,  went  out  in 
sympathy  with  the  Metal  Polishers;  in  view  of  the  fact  that 
the  national  union  was  not  notified  until  after  the  men 
struck,  the  strike  was  not  sanctioned.  Delegate  Davis  in 
discussing  the  case  at  the  1901  convention  said:  "While 
no  doubt  No.  34  made  a  serious  mistake  in  doing  what  they 
did,  our  constitution  at  that  time  was  not  specific  enough 
to  cover  the  case  in  hand."^^  At  this  convention  a  rule 
was  passed  to  the  effect  that  "no  local  can  strike  without 
the  consent  of  the  executive  board."  This  rule  is  still  in 
force  .^s 

The  Blacksmiths  have  discussed  at  three  of  their  con- 
ventions the  various  aspects  of  the  sympathetic  strike. 
The  committee  on  relations  with  other  organizations  recom- 
mended in  1903  that  the  organization  should  not  enter  into 
sympathetic  strikes  conflicting  with  agreements  "unless 
such  conditions  exist  as  will  be  a  detriment  to  the  advance- 
ment of  all  workingmen."^^  In  1905  one  sympathetic 
strike  was  reported  as  sanctioned  and  another  as  taking 
place  without  sanction.  President  Slocum  in  his  report  in 
1905  said:  "Sympathetic  strikes,  however,  are  to  be  avoided 
and  shunned  as  calculated  to  bring  disaster  to  the  organiza- 
tion entering  upon  one,  because  it  usually  proves  to  be  a 
two-edged  sword."  President  Kline  complained  in  1907 
that  every  craft  with  a  grievance  tried  to  get  the  black- 
smith shop  closed,  with  the  idea  that  it  would  have  a  better 
chance  of  winning.  Then  he  added:  "True,  but  if  we  fol- 
lowed every  craft,  we  would  be  on  strike  half  the  time. 
Our  laws  should  be  well  defined  relative  to  strikes." 

The  usual  penalty  for  entering  on  an  illegal  strike  is  the 
withholding  of  strike  benefits.  An  exception  to  this  rule 
is  made  by  some  unions  whenever  it  can  be  cleariy  shown 
that  no  opportunity  was  afforded  to  carry  out  the  consti- 

*^  Proceedings,  1906,  p.  204. 

*''  Proceedings,  1901,  pp.  4,  21. 

"  Constitution,  1910,  art.  ix,  sec.  10. 

*'  Proceedings,  1903,  p.  58. 


64       CONTROL  OF  STRIKES  IN  AMERICAN  TRADE  UNIONS    [4O2 

tutional  provisions  and  the  provocation  was  so  great  that 
immediate  action  was  necessary.  In  such  cases  benefits 
are  paid  by  the  Bookbinders,  the  Plate  Printers,  the  Opera- 
tive Potters,  and  the  Photo-Engravers,  while  some  unions 
give  no  financial  aid  but  lend  only  their  moral  support,  as 
in  the  case  of  the  Metal  Polishers.  The  denial  of  strike 
benefits  is,  however,  accom.panied  at  times  by  permission 
to  appeal  directly  to  other  local  unions  for  financial  help. 
The  executive  board  of  the  Metal  Polishers  refused  bene- 
fits in  the  case  of  an  illegal  strike  in  New  Jersey  in  191 1,  but 
asked  all  local  unions  to  contribute  voluntarily.^''  But  in 
nearly  all  unions  no  such  appeal  is  allowed  unless  the 
general  officers  sanction  its  issue.  The  Sheet  Metal 
Workers  do  not  allow  any  direct  appeal.^^  The  Tobacco 
Workers  go  farther,  and  do  not  allow  local  unions  to  levy 
assessments  or  suspend  members  not  paying  the  same  if 
the  assessments  are  in  aid  of  an  unauthorized  strike.^^ 

Some  unions  provide  that  members  striking  illegally  shall 
be  fined.  The  Box  Makers,  for  instance,  in  191 1,  after 
examining  forty-five  men  fined  three  of  them  five  dollars 
apiece  for  promoting  an  illegal  strike.  Other  unions,  such 
as  the  Operative  Potters,^^  the  Railway  Carmen ,^^  and 
other  railroad  brotherhoods,  expel  or  suspend  members  so 
acting.  The  Boot  and  Shoe  Workers  automatically  suspend 
and  impose  a  fine  of  ten  dollars  on  each  person  going  out  on 
strike  in  violation  of  arbitration  agreements.^^ 

The  strongest  means  for  the  enforcement  of  the  rules 
against  independent  strikes  is  the  revocation  or  suspension 
of  the  charters  of  the  striking  local  unions  and  the  putting 
of  men  to  work  in  place  of  those  on  strike.  In  1873,  for 
instance,  division  115  of  the  Locomotive  Engineers,  on 
account  of  a  violation  of  the  rules  of  the  brotherhood, 

^°  Our  Journal  [Metal  Polishers],  February,  1912,  p.  7. 

"Sheet  Metal  Workers'  Journal,  May,  1912,  p.  162;  Constitution, 
1909,  art.  xiii,  sec.  6. 

"  Constitution,  1905,  sec.  88. 

"  Constitution,  1910,  sec.  69. 

*^  Constitution,  1909,  sec.  105. 

^'Proceedings,  1906,  p.  95;  Shoe  Workers'  Journal,  January,  1911, 
p.  26. 


403]  THE   INDEPENDENT   STRIKE  65 

had  its  charter  suspended  for  one  year,  and  its  members 
deprived  of  all  benefits  and  privileges  for  that  time.^®  The 
unauthorized  strike  has  rarely  appeared  in  this  organiza- 
tion, and  it  was  not  until  1905  that  discipline  for  such 
action  became  necessary.  A  strike  on  the  New  York 
Interurban  Railroad  was  participated  in  by  division  105 
of  the  Locomotive  Engineers  on  March  9,  1905,  in  viola- 
tion of  the  contract  with  the  railroad.  The  strike  was 
entered  into  without  first  calling  in  the  grand  chief  engineer 
for  assistance  in  adjusting  the  grievance.  Moreover,  posi- 
tive instructions  from  the  ofificials  of  the  national  union 
were  kept  from  the  men.  The  strike  was  described  as  a 
"hasty,  ill-advised  action,  without  either  the  knowledge 
or  consent  of  the  Grand  Chief,  illegal  in  every  phase  and 
in  which  there  is  a  most  regrettable  evidence  of  indifference 
to  obligated  duty,  as  well  as  indifference  to  the  welfare  of 
our  organization  as  a  whole  by  breaking  faith  with  a  con- 
tract made  in  conjunction  with  the  Grand  Chief  Engineer, 
aided  by  the  influence  and  good  name  of  the  whole  order, 
making  a  grievous  break  in  our  work  of  honor,  upon  which 
rests  our  contracts  with  nearly  all  the  railroads  of  America, 
Canada,  and  Mexico."  The  charter  of  this  division  was 
revoked  .^^ 

That  the  rules  of  the  Trainmen  are  not  mere  paper  ones 
is  proved  by  the  enforcement  of  discipline  against  un- 
authorized strikes  in  that  organization.  The  Switchmen, 
members  of  the  Brotherhood  of  Trainmen,  employed  at 
New  Haven,  Conn.,  on  the  New  York,  New  Haven  and 
Hartford  Railroad,  went  on  strike  in  1906  in  violation  of 
their  contract  with  the  railroad.  After  a  thorough  investi- 
gation of  the  affair  Vice-Grand  Master  Val  Smith,  repre- 
senting the  brotherhood,  pronounced  the  strike  illegal, 
ordered  the  men  back  to  work  provided  the  company  would 
reemploy  them,  and  assured  the  company  that  the  contract 
between  it  and  the  brotherhood  would  be  maintained  and 

^^  Locomotive  Engineers'  Monthly  Journal,  January,  1875,  pp.  33, 
35.     One  member's  family  lost  $3000  life  insurance. 
"  Ibid.,  April,  1905,  p.  343. 

S 


66       CONTROL  OF  STRIKES  IN  AMERICAN  TRADE  UNIONS   [404 

that  the  brotherhood  would  furnish  capable  men  to  fill  all 
vacancies.^^  A  vigorous  editorial  in  the  official  organ 
scored  the  action  of  the  men  in  violating  their  contract 
and  declared  that  the  rule  would  be  enforced. 

The  general  officers  of  the  Amalgamated  Association  of 
Street  and  Electric  Railway  Employees  admonished  a  local 
union  in  1901  "to  confine  itself  strictly  to  the  laws  of  our 
Association  and  the  stipulations  set  forth  in  their  contract 
with  the  company.  "^^  A  strike  on  the  New  York  subway 
in  1905  was  declared  illegal  and  "to  be  neither  authorized 
or  approved  by  the  Association,"  and  all  loyal  members 
were  instructed  to  report  for  duty.  The  convention  of  the 
same  year  concurred  in  this  action,  and  recommended  that 
in  such  cases  charters  should  be  revoked.^" 

An  unauthorized  strike  over  the  measurement  of  type 
set  on  the  machines  of  the  Chicago  Examiner  and  the  Chi- 
cago American  took  place  on  March  28,  1911.  On  the 
previous  day  Commiissioner  H.  N.  Kellogg,  of  the  American 
Newspaper  Publishers'  Association,  had  telegraphed  Presi- 
dent Lynch  of  the  national  union  that  trouble  was  liable  to 
occur.  Immediately  following  the  receipt  of  this  telegram 
President  Lynch  wired  President  O'Brien  of  Chicago  Local 
No.  16  as  follows:  "Kellogg  wires  me  dispute  with  Hearst 
papers  serious  and  trouble  liable.  Of  course,  under  arbi- 
tration agreement,  disputes  must  be  peaceably  adjusted, 
work  continuing  in  the  interim  between  raising  of  question 
and  its  settlement.  Know  that  you  will  see  agreement  is 
observed."  The  first  knowledge  that  any  official  of  the 
International  Typographical  Union  received  that  a  strike 
had  occurred  was  gained  by  President  Lynch  through  a 
bulletin  posted  on  a  bulletin  board  in  Washington.  Presi- 
dent Lynch  telegraphed  at  once  to  President  O'Brien  of  the 
Chicago  local  union:  "Just  learned  of  strike  on  Hearst 
papers,  in  violation  of  arbitration  agreement  and  contract 
obligations.     Men  must  return  to  work  at  once  and  pro- 

58  Railroad  Trainmen's  Journal,  September-October,  1906,  pp.  835- 

5'  Proceedings,  1901,  p.  9. 

^o  Proceedings,  1905,  pp.  18,  44. 


405]  THE   INDEPENDENT   STRIKE  67 

tection  guaranteed  to  those  who  obey  this  order,"  Presi- 
dent Lynch  also  communicated  at  once  with  Secretary- 
Treasurer  Hays  and  the  executive  council,  and  the  strike, 
in  accordance  with  the  rules  of  the  national  union,  was 
disavowed  as  illegal,  and  the  men  were  ordered  to  report 
for  work.  The  publishers  of  the  Examiner  and  the  Ameri- 
can were  also  informed  of  this  decision.  The  Chicago  local 
union  refused  to  carry  out  this  order.  The  national 
officers  then  declared  that  if  the  men  did  not  return  to 
work  the  "executive  council  would  order  that  type  for  the 
American  and  Examiner  be  set  by  members  in  other 
chapels,  and  that  it  would  use  every  effort  to  see  that  the 
papers  on  which  the  strike  occurred  were  issued  with  the 
least  possible  delay."  The  local  union  proving  stubborn, 
telegrams  were  sent  to  the  chairmen  of  the  other  Chicago 
papers  instructing  them  to  have  set  up  any  copy  presented 
for  the  American  and  the  Examiner  unless  the  strikers 
returned  to  work  at  once.^^  The  executive  committee  of 
the  local  union  then  ordered  the  men  to  return  to  work  on 
the  American  and  the  Examiner. 

The  members  of  the  Photo-Engravers'  Union  on  the  Pitts- 
burg Dispatch  went  out  on  an  illegal  strike  in  1905,  but 
were  ordered  to  return  to  work  by  the  national  officers,  and 
a  deputy  was  sent  who  adjusted  the  dispute.®^  The  Inter- 
national Stereotypers  and  Electro typers'  Union,  likewise, 
opposes  any  illegal  strike.  Stereotypers'  Union  No.  4  of 
Chicago  instituted  a  strike  on  the  principal  Chicago  papers 
on  May  3,  1912,  in  direct  violation  of  the  terms  of  an  agree- 
ment entered  into  with  the  daily  newspapers  of  Chicago, 
and  underwritten  and  guaranteed  by  the  national  union. 
The  executive  officers  of  the  national  union  as  soon  as  notice 
had  been  received  of  the  strike  denounced  it  as  illegal,  and 
ordered  the  men  who  had  struck  immediately  to  return  to 
work.  The  executive  officers  went  to  Chicago  and  en- 
deavored to  have  the  striking  members  return  to  work  but 
without  success.     On  May  9,  1912,  the  charter  of  Stere- 

^^  Proceedings,  191 1,  p.  95. 
^2  Proceedings,  191 1,  p.  352. 


68       CONTROL  OF  STRIKES  IN  AMERICAN  TRADE  UNIONS   [406 

otypers'  Union  No.  4  was  suspended.  The  matter  was 
brought  up  at  the  annual  convention,  and  after  long  debate 
was  referred  to  the  executive  board  with  power  to  act. 
The  executive  board  then  by  unanimous  vote  chartered  a 
new  union  to  be  known  as  Stereotypers'  Union  No.  114  of 
Chicago,  Illinois,  to  take  the  place  of  the  one  suspended.^^ 

The  Boot  and  Shoe  Workers  in  1907  revoked  the  charter 
of  their  local  union  in  South  Framingham,  Mass.,  and 
entered  suit  for  the  funds  in  the  local  treasury.  The  local 
union  had  entered  upon  a  strike  without  holding  a  meeting 
or  notifying  any  of  the  national  officers.^  Likewise  some 
"treers"  in  a  Brockton  factory  where  the  "union  stamp 
agreement"  was  in  force  went  out  on  the  plea  of  a  right  to 
quit  as  individuals.  The  firm  notified  the  officers  of  the 
national  union,  and  the  latter  advertised  for  men  to  take 
the  places  of  the  strikers  and  thus  protect  the  agreement. 
The  strikers  appealed  to  the  1907  convention,  but  their 
appeal  was  not  allowed  because  they  had  not  paid  their 
fines.^^  Again  in  1909  the  places  of  illegal  strikers  were 
filled,  although  with  difficulty,  and  the  strikers  were  termed 
traitors  and  repudiators.®^ 

The  United  Mine  Workers  do  not  consider  any  strike 
legal  or  entitled  to  support  unless  the  rules  governing 
strikes  have  been  complied  with.^^  In  1896  the  McDonald 
machine  men  had  a  grievance,  but  instead  of  observing 
the  strike  law  they  quit  work,  and  then  sought  an  adjust- 
ment of  the  trouble.  The  Pittsburg  convention  ordered 
them  back  to  work,  and  asked  them  to  present  their 
grievances  to  the  joint  committee  of  ten  appointed  for  the 
purpose  of  settling  such  disputes.  The  editor  of  the 
Journal  said:  "This  is  disciphne,  no  doubt,  but  it  is  of  the 
right  kind.     It  is  the  discipline  that  will  eventually  redound 

«3Tiie  Journal    [Stereotypers  and  Electrotypers],  June,  pp.    I,  2, 
September,  p.  i,  1912;  Proceedings,  19 12,  p.  36. 
**  Proceedings,  1907,  p.  22. 
°^  Ibid.,  pp.  21,  319. 

**Shoe  Workers'  Journal,  January,  1911,  p.  26. 
"  Constitution,  1890,  art.  v;  1908,  art.  x. 


407]  THE   INDEPENDENT   STRIKE  69 

to  the  benefit  of  all  of  us,  if  rightly  and  consistently  exer- 
cised."^^ 

The  rare  case  of  a  local  union  going  farther  in  disciplining 
members  than  the  national  organization  is  willing  to  go  is 
illustrated  in  a  decision  of  the  general  executive  board  of 
the  Pattern  Makers'  League.  A  branch  of  the  league 
expelled  two  members  on  account  of  their  action  during 
an  unsanctioned  strike.  The  executive  board  did  not 
approve  the  action  of  the  association  in  expelling  these 
two  members,  and  ruled  that  they  would  not  approve  the 
action  of  any  branch  in  expelling  members  on  account  of 
unsanctioned  strikes.^^  This  union,  however,  is  highly 
organized  and  as  a  body  is  opposed  to  strikes,  holding  that 
under  their  system  strikes  are  unnecessary.'^" 

It  thus  appears  that  the  main  forces  making  for  the 
abolition  of  the  independent  or  illegal  strike  have  been  (i) 
the  growth  of  a  national  policy  in  regard  to  organization 
and  beneficiary  features,  (2)  the  necessity  of  the  enforce- 
ment of  agreements  with  employers,  and  (3)  the  necessity 
of  discipline  to  keep  the  local  unions  from  disruption  and 
destruction  through  unwise  and  hasty  strikes.  The  older 
national  unions,  such  as  the  Iron  Molders,  the  Bricklayers 
and  Masons,  the  Cigar  Makers,  the  Typographical  Union, 
and  the  Locomotive  Engineers,  have  attained  a  more 
complete  control  than  the  more  recently  organized  unions. 
Complete  control  is  found  in  all  the  railroad  brotherhoods. 

The  grant  of  strike  benefits  only  in  the  case  of  a  duly 
authorized  strike  acts  as  a  sharp  deterrent  on  local  unions 
contemplating  an  illegal  strike.  The  suspension  or  revo- 
cation of  the  charter  of  a  local  union  means  that  its  members 
will  suffer  the  loss  of  death,  sickness,  and  out-of-work 
benefits  offered  by  the  national  organization.  The  expul- 
sion or  suspension  of  the  individual  members  acts  also,  of 
course,  in  the  same  way,  while  a  fine  and  the  loss  of  work 
through  the  illegal  strike  may  make  the  financial  burden 
an  onerous  one. 

**  United  Mine  Workers'  Journal,  January  23,  1896,  p.  4. 
»"  Pattern  Makers'  Journal,  April,  1890,  p.  16. 
'"'  Proceedings,  1906,  p.  8. 


70       CONTROL  OF  STRIKES  IN  AMERICAN  TRADE  UNIONS   [408 

No  uniform  date  can  be  assigned  to  the  beginning  of  the 
ehmination  of  independent  strikes  since  the  date  varies 
with  different  unions.  The  Locomotive  Engineers,  for 
instance,  centraHzed  strike  control  by  agreements  through 
the  national  executive  with  the  railroads  during  the  years 
1874-1879.  The  Cigar  Makers  did  not  gain  full  control 
until  after  1885,  while  the  Holders,  although  passing  an 
expulsion  rule  in  1882,  had  independent  strikes  as  late  as 
1901.  The  Printers  did  not  provide  against  the  illegal  or 
unauthorized  strike  until  1904.  It  may  be  stated  gener- 
ally, however,  that  fairly  effective  control  of  the  un- 
authorized strike  began  to  develop  the  early  eighties. 

The  lack  of  control  still  found  in  many  unions  is  to  be 
explained  by  their  system  of  local  autonomy  and  low  dues. 
The  national  office  without  money  cannot  dictate  to  the 
local  unions  when  and  where  not  to  strike.  The  influence 
of  increased  dues  and  centralization  is  shown  by  the  history 
of  the  Boot  and  Shoe  Workers  since  1899.  This  organiza- 
tion, by  means  of  increased  dues  (the  bulk  of  which  go  to 
the  national  union),  the  raising  of  a  defense  fund,  the  use 
of  agreements,  and  the  giving  of  sick  benefits,  has  made  the 
national  union  paramount. 


CHAPTER  VI 

The  Management  of  Strikes 

The  successful  issue  of  a  strike,  like  the  winning  of  a 
battle,  depends  to  a  large  extent  on  the  methods  used  and 
the  leadership  evoked.  The  evolution  of  strike  manage- 
ment, like  that  of  strike  initiation,  has  proceeded  from 
almost  complete  autonomy  on  the  part  of  the  local  unions 
to  the  present  large  measure  of  control  by  the  national 
unions.^  The  usual  strike  machinery  is  as  follows:  (i)  the 
local  strike  committee,  (2)  the  district  committee,  and"" 
(3)  the  agent  or  representative  of  the  national  union  who 
conducts  the  strike  and  represents  the  interests  of  the 
general  union. 

(i)  The  local  strike  committee  chosen  by  the  local  union 
conducts  the  strike  and  has  full  charge  of  affairs  where 
there  is  complete  local  autonomy,  as  in  such  unions  as  the 
Blast  Furnace  Workers  and  Smelters,  the  Composition 
Roofers,  the  Damp  and  Waterproof  Workers,  the  Print 
Cutters,  the  Hod  Carriers,  the  Slate  and  Tile  Roofers,  and 
the  Wall  Paper  Machine  Printers  and  Color  Mixers.  On 
the  other  hand,  where  control  by  the  national  union  exists 
the  local  committee  is  chosen  under  rules  laid  down  by  the 
national  union.  The  Granite  Cutters,  for  instance,  in 
1880  provided  that  the  local  union  should  elect  a  strike 
committee  of  five  members  to  conduct  the  strike,  report  to 
the  national  union  as  to  the  standing  of  the  dispute,  and 
give  an  account  of  receipts  and  expenditures.^  Such  an 
election  is  a  common  procedure  in  several  unions,  but  in 

*  Especially  significant,  however,  as  showing  the  trend  of  develop- 
ment is  the  fact  that  in  the  Hod  Carriers  and  Building  Laborers'  Union, 
which  pays  no  strike  benefits,  the  national  president  or  a  special 
organizer  sent  by  him  goes  to  stay  with  the  local  union  until  the  strike 
ends. 

'  Constitution,  1880,  art.  xiii. 

71 


72       CONTROL  OF  STRIKES  IN  AMERICAN  TRADE  UNIONS    [4 10 

others  the  local  executive  board,  made  up  of  the  officers 
of  the  local  union,  acts  as  a  strike  committee.^ 

(2)  In  places  where  there  is  more  than  one  local  union 
of  any  national  union,  a  district  council  or  joint  local 
executive  board  usually  exists  and  takes  an  active  part  in 
the  management  of  strikes.  The  general  rule  is  that  a 
district  committee  appointed  to  consider  the  initiation  of  a 
strike  continues  as  a  strike  committee  if,  in  spite  of  their 
efforts  at  adjustment,  a  strike  ensues.  Occasionally  a 
new  committee  is  elected.  The  Brotherhood  of  Carpenters 
and  Joiners,  for  instance,  in  1888  provided  that  when  a 
district  council  exists  it  must  adopt  rules  for  the  govern- 
ment of  strikes  and  lockouts  subject  to  the  approval  of 
the  general  executive  board.^  Likewise  the  Cigar  Makers' 
International  Union  in  1890  voted  that  in  places  where 
more  than  one  local  union  exists  such  local  unions  shall 
form  a  "Joint  Strike  Committee"  for  the  management  of 
all  strikes  or  lockouts,  and  that  in  the  month  of  January  of 
each  year  they  must  adopt  local  rules  for  the  management 
of  strikes,  these  rules  to  be  published  in  the  Cigar  Makers' 
Official  Journal.^  A  concrete  illustration  of  the  working 
of  a  district  council  is  afforded  by  a  strike  in  191 1  of  thir- 
teen local  unions  of  the  Brick,  Tile,  and  Terra  Cotta 
Workers'  Alliance  under  the  jurisdiction  of  District  Council 
No.  I,  known  as  the  Chicago  district.  At  the  conferences 
preceding  the  strike  each  local  union  was  represented  by 
one  delegate  and  negotiations  were  carried  on  by  this 
committee  and  by  the  district  and  general  officers.  When 
a  strike  ensued,  however,  a  general  meeting  of  all  the  local 
unions  was  held,  and  the  management  of  the  strike  was 
turned  over  to  the  executive  board  of  the  council  and  the 
national  officers.^ 

It  is  usual  in  the  case  of  a  general  strike  for  the  national 
president  to  call  upon  each  local  union  involved  to  select  a 
representative  to  meet  with  the  members  of  the  general 

*  Tobacco  Workers,  Constitution,  1905,  sec.  77. 

*  Constitution,  1888,  art.  xx,  sec.  12. 

'  Constitution,  1890,  art.  xxv,  sees,  i,  4. 

*  Brick,  Tile  and  Terra  Cotta  Workers'  Journal,  June,  191 1,  p.  4. 


41 1]  THE  MANAGEMENT  OF   STRIKES  73 

executive  board  to  form  a  general  arbitration  committee, 
with  power  delegated  by  the  executive  board  to  take  full 
charge  of  the  strike. 

(3)  An  increasing  number  of  unions  have  adopted  in 
recent  years  the  policy  of  sending  a  representative  or 
deputy  to  the  place  where  any  dispute  or  difficulty  arises. 
The  evolution  of  this  practice  has  been  outlined  in  a 
previous  chapter  and  need  not  detain  us  here.  The  agent 
sent  in  the  first  place  usually  remains  to  manage  the 
strike  if  all  efforts  for  adjustment  fail;  or  if  there  has  been 
no  opportunity  to  send  a  representative  before  the  strike 
takes  place,  one  is  sent  as  soon  as  possible  thereafter. 
Some  sixty  unions  pursue  this  policy,  which  reflects  the 
general  feeling  among  trade  unionists  that  a  local  union 
on  strike  is  not  capable  of  managing  its  own  affairs.  The 
members  of  the  national  union  outside  of  the  local  union 
on  strike  are  not  satisfied  unless  there  is  a  general  officer  or 
agent  on  the  field  of  conflict  to  conduct  the  strike  and  to 
give  an  itemized  report  of  expenditures  and  full  details  as 
to  progress. 

The  recognized  strike  leader  in  many  unions  is  the 
national  president,  who  has  authority  to  command  the 
entire  resources  of  the  national  union.  This  is  especially 
true  of  the  railroad  brotherhoods  such  as  the  Locomotive 
Engineers,  the  Locomotive  Firemen,  the  Railway  Con- 
ductors, the  Railroad  Trainmen,  the  Car  Workers,  the 
Railway  Clerks,  and  the  Railroad  Telegraphers.  Where 
more  than  one  strike  at  a  time  is  being  waged  the  vice- 
presidents  are  called  upon  to  take  the  place  of  the  presi- 
dent. The  representative  may  be,  however,  any  of  the 
officers  or  members  of  the  national  union.  In  1904  the 
Amalgamated  Woodworkers'  Union  had  two  salaried  men 
who  were  directing  strikes,  but  whose  expenses  were 
charged  to  "organization  and  travel."^ 

The  duties  of  the  agent  or  representative  in  the  manage- 
ment of  strikes  were  succinctly  stated  by  the  Cigar  Makers 
in  the  constitution  of  1886:  "To  attend  all  meetings  of 

"  Proceedings,  1904,  p.  22. 


74       CONTROL  OF  STRIKES  IN  AMERICAN  TRADE  UNIONS    [4I2 

the  committee  having  the  conducting  of  the  strike  or  the 
lock-out  in  charge,  and  to  report  weekly  or  oftener  as 
circumstances  warrant,  or  if  required  to  do  so  by  the 
International  President,  upon  all  questions  in  reference  to 
the  difficulty,  and  at  the  same  time  forward  a  copy  thereof 
to  each  member  of  the  Executive  Board.  He  shall  have 
free  access  to  all  meetings  of  the  committee  above  speci- 
fied, and  have  power  when  directed  to  examine  the  books 
and  papers  of  the  local  unions."^  This  phrasing  has  been 
adopted  by  several  other  unions.  The  general  agent  is 
liable  to  discipline  for  neglect  of  duty.  The  general 
executive  board  of  the  Bakery  and  Confectionery  Workers 
in  1911  suspended  an  agent  on  account  of  flagrant  neglect 
of  duty  in  handling  a  strike.^ 

The  tendency  is  toward  an  increased  use  of  the  general 
representative,  even  where  a  large  degree  of  local  autonomy 
prevails.  The  Painters  plan  to  send  a  general  officer  to 
the  scene  of  a  strike,  although  their  local  unions  generally 
finance  their  own  strikes.^°  The  Barbers  have  always 
allowed  their  local  unions  autonomy  in  the  matter  of 
strikes,  but  in  a  strike  at  Louisville,  Ky.,  in  1911,  an  inter- 
national representative  was  sent  to  the  scene  of  conflict  to 
safeguard  the  interests  of  the  national  union.  Even  where 
no  representative  is  sent  from  outside,  the  national  union 
in  some  cases  has  its  officers  appoint  two  or  more  members 
of  the  local  strike  committee  from  among  the  members  of 
the  local  unions  on  strike,  to  act  on  behalf  of  the  national 
union. 

Headquarters  are  usually  established,  where  the  officers 
in  charge  of  the  strike  may  be  found  and  where  the  strikers 
can  gather,  and  in  some  cases  they  are  kept  open  day  and 
night.^^  Meetings  are  held  daily  in  most  cases  and  speakers 
address  these  meetings  to  encourage  the  men.     Members 

*  Constitution,  1886,  art.  vi,  sec.  21. 

'  Bakers'  Journal,  April  29,  191 1,  p.  i;  May  6,  191 1,  p.  I. 
_  ^^  A  general  officer  of  this  union  attended  a  meeting  of  a  strike  com- 
mittee in  Pittsburgh  in  191 1  and  advised  how  best  to  conduct  the 
strike  (Painter  and  Decorator,  May,  191 1,  p.  295). 

"The  Burlington  Strike,  p.  205.  Compiled  by  C.  H.  Salmons,  an 
official  account,  Aurora,  111.     1889. 


413]  THE   MANAGEMENT   OF   STRIKES  75 

on  strike  are  required  to  report  daily  at  roll  call  in  some 
unions,  while  in  others  attendance  is  required  twice  a  day. 
Failure  to  report  ordinarily  entails  a  forfeiture  of  strike 
pay,  although  some  unions  excuse  non-attendance  provided 
a  good  reason  is  given.^  In  some  unions  members  on 
strike  are  not  allowed  to  leave  the  locality  without  noti- 
fying the  local  union,  or  without  the  consent  of  two  thirds 
of  the  members  involved.  Violations  are  punished  or 
penalized  in  the  International  Brotherhood  of  Blacksmiths 
by  a  fine  of  ten  dollars.^^  Members  are  also  required  to  do 
whatever  work  may  be  assigned  them  in  connection  with 
the  strike,  and  in  case  of  refusal  without  a  reasonable 
excuse  they  forfeit  their  strike  pay  or  are  expelled. 

The  officers  of  the  local  union  or  the  strike  committee 
must  report  the  progress  of  the  strike  to  the  national 
officers.  To  begin  with,  as  soon  as  the  strike  takes  place 
notice  must  be  sent  to  general  headquarters  giving  the 
number  of  men  involved,  describing  the  condition  of  affairs, 
and  in  some  cases  transmitting  a  list  of  the  strikers.^* 
A  blank  form  is  usually  sent  from  headquarters  for  the 
local  officials  to  fill  out.^^     The  Stone  Cutters  require  that 

"  Boiler  Makers'  Journal,  August,  1902,  p.  321;  Journeyman  Barber, 
August,  191 1,  p.  225;  Constitution,  Granite  Cutters'  Association,  1880, 
art.  xiii. 

1'  Local  Constitution,  1909,  art.  xii,  sec.  7. 

1*  Bakers'  Journal,  May  13,  1911,  p.  3. 

^*  The  following  is  a  typical  form: 

Affiliated  with  the  American  Federation  of  Labor 

International  Association  of  Machinists 
Office  of  Grand  Lodge — 400-407  McGill  Building 
Report  of  Strikes  and  Lockouts 
Secretaries  will  please  fill  out  this  blank  form  and  send  to  Interna- 
tional President  when  a  strike  or  lockout  occurs. 

190 

City  Date 

Lodge  No 

Date  of  strike 190  .     Time  of  day 

Name  of  firm 

Cause  of  strike 

Total  number  of  machinists  on  strike 

Number  of  union  machinists Number  of  apprentices 


76       CONTROL  OF  STRIKES  IN  AMERICAN  TRADE  UNIONS    [414 

a  strike  report  shall  be  made  to  the  general  office  daily /^ 
but  only  a  weekly  report  is  required  by  the^greater  number 
of  national  unions.  Failure  to  report  involves  the  for- 
feiture of  strike  pay  in  most  unions.  Strike  aid  was  dis- 
continued by  the  Cigar  Makers^^  in  1873  and  by  the  Stone 
Cutters^^  in  1903  to  local  unions  on  strike  which  had  not 
sent  in  their  strike  reports. 

One  of  the  first  steps  taken  after  the  inauguration  of  a 
strike  is  to  send  out  a  notice  of  the  strike  to  the  various 
local  unions.  Such  a  notice  is  a  warning  to  all  to  keep 
away  from  the  seat  of  trouble  so  that  the  employers  will 
not  be  able  to  get  workmen.  The  Philadelphia  Typo- 
graphical Society  in  1803  published  an  advertisement  and 
sent  out  notices  of  such  a  nature  to  different  societies  in  the 
United  States,  as  did  the  Franklin  Typographical  Society 
of  New  York  in  1809.  The  latter  in  18 10  urged  its  members 
to  make  every  effort  to  prevent  the  defeat  of  their  striking 
brethren  in  Philadelphia  by  the  importation  of  printers 
from  New  York.  After  the  establishment  of  the  National 
Typographical  Union  in  1850  its  main  purpose  for  thirty 

Number  of  machinists  who  have  been  members  for  three  months 

Number  of  non-union  machinists  on  strike Number 

of  machinists  remaining  at  work Are  any  of  the  other 

metal  trades  involved? 

Has  a  strike  ever  taken  place  before;  if  so,  with  what  result? 

What  class  of  work  is  firm  engaged  in? 

What  has  been  done  to  avoid  the  strike? 


Remarks 
Give  full  particulars  not  mentioned  above,  wages  paid,  hours  worked, 
etc 

(seal)  President. 

Approved: Int'l  Pres. 

Rec.  Secretary. 

Pay  rolls  sent: 

Date. 
No  Benefits  Paid  for  the  First  Week  of  Strike. 
"Constitution,  1892,  art.  xi,  sec.  7;  By-Laws,  1909. 
^'  Proceedings,  1873,  p.  16. 
^8  Stone  Cutters'  Journal,  January,  1903,  p.  7. 


415]  THE   MANAGEMENT   OF   STRIKES  77 

years  was  "to  build  up  among  the  local  unions  such  a 
community  of  feeling  as  to  make  it  as  difficult  as  possible 
for  employers  to  secure  workmen  in  time  of  strike. "^^ 
In  1864  the  national  secretary  of  the  Cigar  Makers  was 
instructed  to  notify  all  local  unions  of  any  difficulty .^° 
The  officers  of  the  Bricklayers  and  Masons  in  1869  issued 
warnings  to  members  to  keep  away  from  the  scene  of 
trouble.^^  The  FHnt  Glass  Workers  in  1881  instructed 
their  secretary  in  case  of  sanctioned  strikes  to  send  out  a 
statement  of  the  facts  to  all  local  unions,  "warning  all 
true  men  not  to  accept  employment  in  such  factory  or 
factories. "^^  The  same  language  is  used  by  the  Operative 
Potters-^  and  the  Tin  Plate  Workers.^  The  Iron  Molders 
directed  their  president  in  1882,  and  later  their  secretary, 
to  keep  the  organization  informed  as  to  strikes  or  lock- 
outs either  by  circular  or  through  the  Journal.^^ 

Most  unions  now  issue  notices  of  strikes  through  their 
secretaries  or  through  their  journals.  A  typical  notice  is 
the  following  by  the  Machinists,  printed  in  large-face  type 
in  their  official  organ:  "Keep  away  from  all  points  on  the 
Pacific  Coast.  This  means  every  city,  there  are  no  excep- 
tions, and  it  means  you,  so  don't  go  out  there  and  pretend 
that  you  did  not  know  they  were  on  strike  for  an  eight- 
hour  day."^®  That  such  a  notice  is  not  entirely  uncalled 
for  is  seen  by  the  experience  of  the  Boiler  Workers  in  two 
strikes  in  1892,  one  in  Chicago  and  the  other  in  Boston. 
Both  local  unions  had  to  pay  out  of  their  strike  benefits 
the  return  fare  of  those  members,  denounced  as  "pirates" 
and  "land  cormorants,"  who  came  on  free  tickets  furnished 
by  the  employers  and  then  claimed  that  they  would  not 
have  come  if  they  had  known  a  strike  was  in  progress.^'^ 

1^  Barnett,  pp.  16,  18,  29. 

'"  Constitution,  1864,  art.  vii,  sec.  2. 

'^  Proceedings,  1869,  p.  34. 

2^  Constitution,  1881,  art.  ix,  sec.  2. 

^'  Constitution,  1910,  sec.  66. 

^*  Constitution,  1908,  art.  vii,  sec.  3. 

^^  Constitution,  1882,  art.  vi,  sec.  2. 

2^  Machinists'  Monthly  Journal,  January,  191 1,  p.  I5- 

*' Proceedings,  1893,  p.  41. 


78       CONTROL  OF  STRIKES  IN  AMERICAN  TRADE  UNIONS    [416 

Another  method  of  limiting  the  number  of  men  who 
must  be  turned  back  is  to  refuse  temporarily  all  travelling 
or  transfer  cards.  The  Cigar  Makers  in  1886  passed  a 
rule  giving  local  unions  on  strike  power  to  reject  all  travel- 
ling cards,  provided  the  strike  was  approved  by  the  national 
union.^^  This  rule  was  amended  in  1896  by  making  an 
exception  in  the  case  of  sick  members.  The  Freight 
Handlers^^  and  the  Stove  Mounters^°  have  a  similar  rule. 
The  Steam  Fitters  in  1897  also  provided  against  transfer 
at  such  times.^^  A  local  union  of  the  Bakery  and  Con- 
fectionery Workers  must  have  the  approval  of  the  general 
executive  board  before  it  may  refuse  to  admit  members  from 
the  national  union  on  travelling  cards  during  a  strike  or 
lockout  in  its  district.^^  The  Bookbinders,  when  a  strike 
involves  more  than  one  third  of  the  membership,  allow  the 
local  union  to  reject  all  travelling  cards, ^^  while  under  the 
same  conditions  a  local  union  of  the  Theatrical  Stage 
Employes  may  reject  such  cards  for  three  months,  or, 
with  the  consent  of  the  national  president,  for  six  months.^^ 
The  Cement  Workers,  the  Horseshoers,  the  Operative 
Plasterers,  and  the  Painters  also  provide  against  such 
transfers.  Members  who  have  had  a  bona  fide  residence  of 
one  year  or  more  within  the  jurisdiction  of  a  local  union  of 
the  Operative  Plasterers  prior  to  a  strike  or  lockout  have 
the  privilege  of  returning.  One  of  the  reasons  for  these 
restrictions  on  transfers  is  that  if  some  employers  hold  out 
while  others  accede  to  the  demands,  it  becomes  difficult 
to  get  employment  for  local  members. 

The  need  of  conserving  all  the  strength  of  a  national 
union  during  a  period  of  difficulty  has  promoted  the  feeling 
that  any  member  leaving  the  organization  at  such  a  time 
is  a  traitor  to  the  cause.  The  Painters,  for  instance,  allow 
a  member  to  sever  his  connection  with  the  brotherhood  if 

2^  Constitution,  1886,  art.  vi,  sec.  19. 
"  Constitution,  1910,  art.  xiv,  sec.  2. 
^°  Constitution,  1910,  art.  ix,  sec.  4. 
'^  Proceedings,  1897,  P-  7- 
^^  Constitution,  191 1,  art.  xxii,  sec.  6, 
''  Constitution,  1910,  art.  x,  sec.  14. 
^*  Constitution,  191 1,  art.  vi,  sec.  8. 


417]  THE   MANAGEMENT   OF    STRIKES  79 

he  pays  up  all  dues  and  other  arrearages  and  does  not  con- 
tinue to  work  as  a  journeyman,  but  it  does  not  accept  any 
resignation  during  a  strike  or  a  lockout.^^  In  the  same 
manner,  the  return  of  a  charter  by  any  local  union  before 
an  anticipated  strike  or  during  a  strike  is  regarded  as 
reprehensible.  The  Chain  Makers  provide  that  any  lodge 
so  acting  shall  be  fined  not  less  than  twenty-five  dollars. 
The  return  of  a  charter  by  any  lodge  is  to  be  investigated, 
and  the  decision  of  the  executive  council  after  such  investi- 
gation stands  until  the  next  convention.  Members  of 
lodges  returning  their  charters  may  remain  "isolated 
members"  provided  they  comply  with  the  rules  of  the 
national  union.^^  Some  unions  issue  no  charters  and 
initiate  no  new  members  during  strikes,  while  others 
suspend  the  usual  restrictions  on  the  admission  of  members 
at  such  a  time. 

The  feeling  against  anyone  taking  the  place  of  a  striker 
is  shown  by  the  use  of  such  opprobrious  epithets  as  "scab" 
and  "rat."  The  epithet  "scab"  was  used  by  a  witness  in 
the  trial  of  the  Philadelphia  Cordwainers  in  1806  in  de- 
scribing a  "turn-out"  in  1799,  and  this  is  probably  the 
first  recorded  use  of  the  term.^^  The  oath  of  the  Cord- 
wainers required  them  to  obtain  the  wage  scale  and  did  not 
allow  them  to  work  beside  those  who  did  not,  A  witness 
at  the  trial  of  the  Pittsburg  Cordwainers  in  181 5  said: 
"The  means  we  took  to  get  our  wages  were  a  turn-out; 
Scabbing  a  shop  is  leaving  it,  and  those  who  worked  there 
after  that  were  scabs. "^^  Another  epithet  for  one  working 
during  a  strike,  used  in  1827,  was  "dung."^^  The  term 
"rat"  used  by  the  union  printers  in  the  same  connection 
appeared  first  in  this  country  in  1816  and  was  in  all  prob- 
ability brought  from  England.^"  The  Buffalo  Tailors  in 
1824  penaUzed  their  members  acting  as  strike  breakers  by 
publishing  their  names  so  that  they  could  not  get  a  job 

2^  Constitution,  1910,  sec.  48. 

'^Proceedings,  1904,  p.  11. 

'^  Commons  and  Gilmore,  vol.  iii,  p.  75. 

^*  Ibid.,  vol.  iv,  p.  26. 

'8  Ibid.,  p.  139. 

"  Barnett,  p.  23, 


80       CONTROL  OF  STRIKES  IN  AMERICAN  TRADE  UNIONS    [4 1 8 

with  union  tailors.  For  the  same  offence  the  Philadelphia 
Journeymen  Tailors  in  1827  imposed  a  fine  of  five  dollars.'*^ 
In  1854  the  Journeymen  Stone  Cutters'  Association  adopted 
a  rule  that  any  member  working  during  a  strike  or  contrary 
to  rules  was  to  be  notified  that  unless  he  desisted  he  would 
be  "scabbed,"  and  that  if  he  still  persisted  notice  would  be 
sent  to  all  other  Stone  Cutters'  associations  throughout 
the  United  States  "requesting  them  to  discountenance 
him  as  faithless  to  his  pledge  and  an  enemy  to  the  trade. "^ 
The  Baltimore  Cigar  Makers  sent  in  1856  to  the  New  York 
and  Philadelphia  unions  the  names  of  a  number  of  journey- 
men who  had  refused  to  obey  a  strike  order,  evidently  with 
the  idea  of  keeping  those  named  from  working  in  union 
shops.^^  A  member  of  the  Iron  Molders  was  expelled  in 
1866  for  refusing  to  strike,  and  a  rule  was  passed  in  1876 
to  expel  all  members  who  worked  while  a  strike  was  on.'*^ 
The  necessity  of  vigorous  action  is  seen  in  an  experience 
of  the  Granite  Cutters'  Union.  This  organization  in  1883 
declared  a  strike  off  because  union  men  coming  to  the 
place  of  strike  refused  to  deposit  their  cards  in  the  local 
branch  and  went  to  work  where  the  strike  was  on,  saying: 
"When  we  leave  here  nobody  will  know  who  we  are,  and 
we  can  go  to  work  in  any  Union  Yard."^  This  was  done 
in  spite  of  the  fact  that  the  Granite  Cutters'  Association 
had  passed  a  rule  in  1880  that  "all  members  or  non-members 
opposing  members  in  a  legal  dispute  shall  be  considered 
as  enemies  of  the  common  cause,"  to  be  fined  not  less  than 
$10  or  more  than  $25  except  in  extreme  cases.^  Some 
unions  provide  for  either  fine  or  expulsion,  and  expel  those 
members  who  continue  to  work  during  a  strike  or  who  act 
as  strike  breakers.  Some  of  these  unions  allow  an  expelled 
member  to  be  reinstated,  but  only  on  the  payment  of  a 

*^  Commons  and  Gilmore,  vol.  iv,  p.  218. 

^  Constitution,  1854,  art.  ix. 

"  F.  T.  Stockton,  "The  Closed  Shop  in  American  Trade  Unions,"  in 
Johns  Hopkins  University  Studies,  ser.  xxix,  no.  3,  p.  28. 

"  International  Journal  [Iron  Molders],  November,  1866,  p.  249; 
Constitution,  1876,  art.  xii,  sec.  2. 

*5  Granite  Cutters'  Journal,  May,  1883,  p.  4. 

*^  Constitution,  1880,  art.  xiii. 


419]  THE  MANAGEMENT   OF   STRIKES  8I 

fine,  which  in  the  Brotherhood  of  Boiler  Makers  and  Iron 
Shipbuilders  includes  all  fines,  as  well  as  dues,  assessments, 
reinstatement  stamps  and,  if  the  lapse  is  over  twelve  months, 
an  additional  $3.^^  Fines  varying  from  $5  to  $100  are  im- 
posed by  the  Actors,  the  Broom  Makers,  the  Carpenters 
and  Joiners,  the  Iron  Molders,  the  Paper  Makers,  the 
Paving  Cutters,  the  Sheet  Metal  Workers,  the  Steam 
Engineers,  the  Stove  Mounters,  the  Tile  Layers,  and  the 
Wood  Carvers.  In  the  Pattern  Makers  and  the  Teamsters 
suspension  is  frequently  used,  carrying  with  it  the  forfeiture 
of  all  rights,  privileges,  and  benefits  from  date  of  com- 
mencement of  offense.  In  the  Pattern  Makers  the  penalty 
may  be  fine,  suspension,  or  expulsion.^^  Especially  in- 
dicative of  the  feeling  against  strike  breakers  is  a  resolu- 
tion adopted  by  the  Locomotive  Engineers  in  1904  to  the 
effect  that  the  election  by  a  division  as  a  delegate  of  any 
one  who,  after  September,  1904,  took  the  place  of  another 
in  a  strike  should  be  considered  an  offense,  and,  upon  con- 
viction, such  division  should  have  its  charter  suspended 
until  the  meeting  of  the  next  convention.^^ 

In  many  unions  efforts  are  made  to  prevent  the  em- 
ployer's having  work  done  in  other  shops.  Members  con- 
tinuing to  work  in  such  places  are  subject  to  fine  or  expul- 
sion or  both.  Mandatory  rules  directing  the  national 
officers  to  stop  such  work  are  found,  for  example,  in  the 
Brushmakers,  the  Coopers,  the  Granite  Cutters,  the  Saw 
Smiths,  the  Machinists,  and  the  Photo-Engravers.  In 
1889  the  Locomotive  Engineers  adopted  a  resolution 
directing  their  members  in  case  of  a  legal  strike,  if  em- 
ployed on  a  connecting  or  adjacent  road,  to  refuse  to 
handle  the  cars  of  the  railroad  against  which  there  was  a 
grievance  until  the  dispute  should  be  amicably  settled. 
The  railroads  took  the  matter  into  the  courts,  and  the 
rule  was  declared   unlawful  by  a  circuit  court  in   1895. 

*'  Constitution,  1910,  pp.  47,  49. 
*'  Laws,  19 10,  art.  29,  sec.  4. 
**  Constitution,  1910,  sec.  25,  p.  12. 
6 


82       CONTROL  OF  STRIKES  IN  AMERICAN  TRADE  UNIONS    [42O 

This  judgment  having  been  affirmed  by  the  United  States 
Supreme  Court  in  1897,  the  rule  was  repealed.^" 

In  1902  the  same  question  came  up,  and  the  policy  of 
diverting  traffic  from  roads  having  trouble  by  using  "all 
means  secretly  and  quietly  and  individually,"  thus  avoid- 
ing any  clash  with  the  law,  was  adopted:  "Any  brother 
being  discharged  from  a  road  not  on  a  strike,  for  using  his 
influence  to  divert  traffic  from  the  road  on  a  strike  shall  be 
supported  by  the  Brotherhood  and  be  paid  $40.00  per 
month,  as  per  By-Laws,  for  a  period  of  six  months. "^^ 
The  policy  of  the  railroad  brotherhoods  is  to  refuse  to  allow 
their  members  to  take  the  place  of  a  striker  or  to  do  any 
of  the  work  of  a  striker  in  any  strike  inaugurated  by  any 
recognized  labor  organization.  The  Locomotive  Engineers 
are  instructed  not  to  do  any  work  which  they  would  not 
do  if  there  were  no  strike.^^  If  the  machinists  are  on  strike, 
the  engineers  have  no  right  to  do  machinists'  work. 

Although  strenuous  efforts  are  made  to  keep  the  em- 
ployer from  getting  his  work  done  elsewhere,  other  em- 
ployers in  the  same  place  who  agree  to  pay  the  wage  scale 
and  abide  by  the  union  rules  may  ordinarily  continue  to 
run  their  shops  provided  they  confine  themselves  to  their 
own  work  and  do  not  help  the  firm  whose  men  are  out. 
In  the  Bookbinders,  the  Cigar  Makers,  and  the  Plate 
Printers  members  must  have  the  consent  of  the  local  union 
to  continue  at  work.  The  declared  policy  of  the  Bakery  and 
Confectionery  Workers  is  to  restrict  a  strike  to  as  few  shops 
as  possible  so  that  the  members  at  work  may  assist  finan- 
cially those  who  are  on  strike.^^ 

The  importance  of  a  vigorous  policy  against  strike 
breaking  and  delinquent  members  is  apparent;  but  it  is 
also  clear  that  in  a  bitter  and  protracted  struggle  the 
return  of  former  members  weakens  by  just  so  much  the 
forces  in  opposition.     It  is  at  this  point  that  the  national 

"Locomotive  Engineers'  Monthly  Journal,  August,  i8qs,  p.  678; 
August,  1897,  p.  819.  s      ,       ^o.  H      /    . 

"  Proceedings,  1902,  p.  93. 

"  Ibid.,  p.  106. 

"  Constitution,  191 1,  art.  xviii,  sec.  10. 


42 1]  THE  MANAGEMENT   OF   STRIKES  83 

union  frequently  finds  it  necessary  to  override  the  local 
union.  A  local  union  of  the  Bricklayers  and  Masons  at  the 
1 9 10  convention  of  that  union  protested  against  the  action 
of  the  general  executive  board  in  reissuing  a  travelling 
card  to  a  delinquent  member.  The  answer  of  the  board 
was  that  it  had  not  permitted  former  misconduct  or  unpaid 
fines  to  interfere  with  the  management  of  the  strike,  and 
it  protested  strongly  against  any  action  that  would  in 
any  way  bind  or  restrict  the  board  in  such  a  case.  "This 
freedom  from  constitutional  law,"  it  said,  "in  so  far  as 
the  removal  of  fines  is  concerned,  free  initiations  and  the 
issuing  of  travelling  cards  besides  other  inducements,  we 
consider  absolutely  necessary."  This  policy  was  sustained 
by  the  convention.^* 

In  the  case  of  non-unionists,  special  action  is  taken  at 
times.  The  American  Flint  Glass  Workers'  Union  in  1892 
gave  their  national  officers,  acting  with  the  executive 
officer  of  the  local  union,  full  authority  to  deal  with  such 
cases.^^  In  1910,  during  a  general  strike  in  Philadelphia, 
President  Daly  of  the  Metal  Polishers'  Union,  after  con- 
sultation with  several  members  of  the  executive  board,  in 
order  to  secure  the  greatest  possible  unity  of  action  offered 
all  non-unionists  who  struck  with  the  Metal  Polishers  and 
stayed  on  strike  until  the  strike  was  settled  free  member- 
ship cards  in  lieu  of  strike  pay.^^  Another  method  used  at 
times  is  the  proclaiming  of  a  general  amnesty  for  a  set 
period  to  all  "scabs"  or  "rats." 

No  stone  is  left  unturned  to  prevent  the  employers 
from  obtaining  workmen  in  place  of  the  strikers  and  thus 
breaking  the  force  of  the  strike.  At  the  beginning  of  the 
strike  of  the  locomotive  engineers  and  firemen  on  the 
Burlington  Railroad  in  1888,  Grand  Master  Sargent  said: 
"There  will  be  no  intimidation,  but  we  shall  claim  the 
right  to  buy  any  locomotive  engineer  that  we  please.  We 
may  decide  to  go  to  a  locomotive  engineer  and  hire  him 

"Proceedings,  1910,  p.  151. 

^*  Proceedings,  1892,  pp.  58,  197. 

*^  Proceedings,  191 1,  p.  84. 


84       CONTROL  OF  STRIKES  IN  AMERICAN  TRADE  UNIONS    [422 

ourselves;  no  one  can  question  us  that  privilege.""  The 
management  of  the  strike  is  thus  described:  "Every  strange 
face  that  appeared  on  the  scene  secured  their  [the  pickets'] 
attention.  If  he  was  inclined  to  work  for  the  Burlington, 
his  manliness  was  appealed  to,  and  if  that  appeal  did  not 
succeed  he  was  hired,  if  possible,  and  most  of  them  who 
came  first,  came  under  a  misconception  of  the  situation  and 
could  be  easily  persuaded  to  go  away  and  leave  the  battle 
to  be  fought  by  the  interested  parties.  Many  of  these 
were  given  something  for  expenses,  while  others  were  void 
of  principle  and  put  a  selling  price  on  themselves,  ranging 
from  $10.00  to  $50.00.  Hundreds  were  in  various  ways 
persuaded  to  leave.  The  picture  was  filled  with  all  phases 
of  humanity,  from  the  appearance  of  high  respectability 
to  the  level  of  the  gutter."^^ 

The  usual  plan  in  many  unions  during  a  strike  is  to  set 
pickets  to  watch  the  shops  and  to  endeavor  to  prevent 
men  from  going  to  work.  The  instructions  issued  by  the 
Bakery  and  Confectionery  Workers  require  that  all  pickets 
shall  patrol  and  watch  closely  all  strike-bound  shops  and 
persuade  any  one  intending  to  take  a  striker's  place  not 
to  do  so,  and  that  they  shall  report  at  once  to  the  strike 
committee  or  strike  meeting  any  favorable  or  unfavorable 
incidents.^^  The  Carpenters  and  Joiners  also  recommend 
that  pickets  be  sent  to  stand  at  each  railroad  station  or 
other  place  of  entry  into  the  city  and  to  guard  each  job 
or  shop  where  the  men  have  quit.^°  This  is  an  old  practice. 
A  witness  at  the  trial  of  the  Philadelphia  Cordwainers  in 
1806  said  that  in  a  turn-out  in  1799  there  was  a  "Tramping 
Committee"  to  "watch  the  *  Jers'  that  they  did  not  scab  it." 
This  committee  was  changed  every  day,  and  members  were 
obliged  to  serve  on  it  or  pay  a  fine.^^  Picketing  is  also 
spoken  of  in  connection  with  the  Journeymen  Tailors' 
strikes  in  1827  and  1836.^2     jj^  1865  two  of  the  members 

"  Chicago  Tribune,  February  26,  1888;  Salmons,  p.  173. 

^^  Salmons,  p.  205. 

^^  Bakers'  Journal,  May  13,  191 1,  p.  3. 

*°  Strike  Instructions,  indorsed  by  the  G.  E.  B.,  March  29,  1892. 

*'  Commons  and  Gilmore,  vol.  iii,  p.  75. 

^*  Ibid.,  vol.  iv,  pp.  109,  316. 


423]  THE   MANAGEMENT   OF   STRIKES  85 

in  a  local  union  of  the  Cigar  Makers  were  sued  for  enticing 
workmen  away  from  a  struck  shop.^^ 

A  vigorous  boycott  is  also  frequently  carried  on.  In 
some  instances,  when  the  goods  of  the  employer  against 
whom  there  is  a  strike  are  of  common  consumption,  mem- 
bers go  from  house  to  house  advising  against  the  use  of  the 
article;  a  canvass  is  made  of  the  stores  handling  the  unfair 
goods,  and  meetings  of  different  societies  and  local  unions 
of  other  crafts  are  visited.  In  some  instances  advertising 
matter  is  furnished  the  local  union  by  the  national  union 
free  of  charge.^*  At  the  same  time  news  of  the  strike  is 
published,  and  the  name  of  the  firm  against  which  there  is 
a  strike  is  printed  in  the  "Unfair  List"  or  "We  Don't 
Patronize  Column"  of  the  trade-union  journals. 

Another  means  used  in  forcing  a  successful  issue  to  a 
strike  is  the  extension  of  the  strike  to  other  contracts, 
shops,  or  mills  of  the  employer  or  even  to  fair  employers. 
The  Granite  Cutters  authorize  the  national  executive  coun- 
cil to  extend  a  strike  to  take  in  all  of  the  work  of  an  em- 
ployer .^^  The  national  officers  of  the  United  Mine  Workers 
may  order  a  suspension  of  work  in  any  other  district  or 
districts  than  the  one  affected  provided  that  such  action  is 
necessary  to  conserve  the  general  interests.^^  In  the 
International  Brotherhood  of  Paper  Makers,  however,  if  a 
strike  is  not  settled  within  six  days,  the  national  officers 
are  directed  to  shut  down  the  other  mills  of  the  company 
against  which  there  is  a  strike.^^  In  the  Plumbers^^  and 
the  Lathers^^  a  strike  in  any  particular  shop  means  that 
the  employer  has  become  unfair  throughout  the  entire 
jurisdiction  of  the  union,  and  no  member  can  work  for  him, 
directly  or  indirectly,  until  the  strike  has  been  settled. 
Any  local  union  of  the  Plumbers  permitting  its  members  to 

^^  Proceedings,  1865,  p.  48. 

^*  The  Stove  Mounters'  International  Union  spent  $517.45  for  printed 
matter  during  one  strike  in  1910  (Proceedings,  1910,  pp.  21-23). 
^  Constitution,  1905,  sec.  112. 
^^Proceedings,  1911,  p.  119. 
^^  Constitution,  1912,  sec.  54. 
^^Constitution,  1910,  sec.  170. 
^^  Constitution,  191 1,  art.  x,  sec.  12. 


86       CONTROL  OF  STRIKES  IN  AMERICAN  TRADE  UNIONS    [424 

work  for  such  an  employer  is  liable  to  suspension. ^°  In  the 
Tin  Plate  Workers  a  legalized  strike  in  any  district  requires 
the  members  to  stop  work  at  the  same  time  in  any  mill  or 
works  in  the  district  belonging  to  the  firm  or  corporation 
against  which  the  strike  has  been  called,  and  the  national 
president  is  authorized  after  the  strike  has  continued  for 
seven  days  to  extend  the  strike  to  all  the  works  of  said 
corporation  or  firm.^^ 

Commissary  departments  have  been  inaugurated  at 
times  to  make  the  expense  of  a  strike  as  low  as  possible. 
The  Cigar  Makers  during  a  prolonged  strike  in  New  York 
City  in  1877  spent  $48,476.39.  The  reason  given  as  to 
why  the  expenses  were  not  more  was  that  the  relief  com- 
mittee supplied  the  strikers  with  bread,  beef,  and  the  other 
necessaries  of  life  purchased  at  wholesale  prices.  A 
thousand  loaves  of  bread  and  2500  pounds  of  meat  were 
distributed  each  day.^^  A  convention  of  the  Coopers  in 
1904,  because  of  the  large  number  of  strikes  on  hand  and 
because  of  lack  of  funds,  instructed  their  local  executive 
boards  to  establish  commissary  departments  for  giving 
relief  to  strikers  actually  in  need.^^ 

Several  national  unions  have  adopted  plans  to  compete 
with  the  firms  or  corporations  against  which  a  strike  has 
been  called.  The  general  executive  board  of  the  Street 
and  Electric  Railway  Employes  purchased  in  1905  three 
automobiles  to  carry  passengers  during  a  strike  at  Saginaw, 
Mich.  As  a  result  of  this  experiment  a  special  committee 
at  the  convention  of  the  same  year  recommended  that  the 
automobiles  already  purchased  should  be  kept  and  an 
appropriation  of  $20,000  made  from  the  defense  fund 
for  the  purchase  of  additional  ones.  One  of  the  speakers 
affirmed  his  belief  that  automobiles  would  be  "a  material 
defense  in  second  class  and  smaller  cities  and  towns." 
The  report  was  adopted,  and  rules  were  passed  later  pro- 
viding for  the  exclusive  control  of  such  automobiles  by 

""^  Constitution,  1910,  sec.  170;  191 1,  art.  x,  sec.  12. 
^^  Constitution,  1908,  art.  viii,  sec.  2. 
''^  Proceedings,  1893,  P-  59- 
'*  Proceedings,  1904,  p.  507. 


425]  THE   MANAGEMENT   OF   STRIKES  87 

the  general  executive  board.  Local  divisions  in  order  to 
secure  their  use  must  be  in  good  standing,  and  all  profits 
accruing  from  their  operation  were  to  be  placed  to  the 
credit  of  the  defense  fund.^'*  In  1908  the  Photo-Engravers 
likewise  gave  their  executive  council  power  to  purchase  one 
or  more  "Portable  Photo-Engraving"  plants  to  be  owned 
by  the  national  union  and  to  be  used  as  a  means  of  defense 
in  case  of  strikes  or  lockouts.^^ 

In  a  protracted  strike  in  Los  Angeles  the  Brewery 
Workmen,  in  order  that  union  beer  might  be  on  sale, 
established  a  beer  agency.  The  experience  of  the  union 
had  shown  that  unless  union  beer  could  be  had,  "all  their 
principles  and  all  requests  will  not  keep  them  [working- 
men]  from  drinking  scab  beer."  The  national  executive 
board  was  authorized  at  the  1910  convention  to  continue 
this  policy  and  to  invest  national  funds  so  that  the  union 
would  be  in  a  position  to  furnish  union  beer  in  localities 
where  strikes  or  lockouts  were  on.^®  The  strike  committee 
was  obliged  to  import  the  beer  into  Los  Angeles  by  the  car- 
load from  a  long  distance,  as  all  breweries  connected  with 
the  United  States  Brewers'  Association  are  pledged  to 
remain  neutral  in  case  of  disputes  and  under  no  condition 
to  furnish  any  beer  for  the  district  in  which  a  strike  is  on. 
The  striking  metal  polishers  of  Philadelphia  formed  in 
191 1  the  Penn  Art  Metal  Company  by  investing  a  thousand 
dollars,  and  used  the  profits  to  pay  strike  benefits. ^^  Simi- 
larly, the  national  officers  of  the  Bricklayers  and  Masons 
during  strikes  at  Alton,  111.,  and  Aberdeen,  S.  D.,  sent 
agents  who  secured  contracts  for  the  erection  of  buildings 
and  thus  provided  work  for  the  members.  The  general 
executive  board  placed  funds  in  local  banks  at  both  places 
to  the  credit  of  the  union  agents. 

■'^  Motorman  and  Conductor,  July,  1905,  p.  ii;  Proceedings,  1905, 

PP-.  51-53- 

'^  Proceedings,  1908,  pp.  19-23. 

's  Proceedings,  1910,  pp.  167,  165,  170,  171,  178. 

Invested  in  Beer  Agency $  7,380.00 

Invested  in  cooperage 10,473.91 

Security  deposited  with  breweries 4,480.00 

Advanced  to  Los  Angeles  Beer  Agency .  .  .     2,000.00 

^^Proceedings,  1911,  p.  173. 


CHAPTER  VII 

Strike  Benefits 

The  chimneys  of  Manchester,  it  has  been  said,  were 
the  real  cause  of  the  downfall  of  Napoleon  because  they 
gave  England  financial  independence.  Nations  must  have 
long  purses  as  well  as  heavy  artillery  in  order  to  win  battles. 
The  same  is  true  in  regard  to  industrial  disputes,  for  the 
worker  must  live  while  the  strike  is  going  on.  Nearly  all 
of  the  older  and  stronger  unions  have  provided  in  various 
forms  "the  sinews  of  war"  in  the  shape  of  strike  benefits. 
The  collection  and  payment  of  these  benefits  have  gradually 
been  put  into  the  hands  of  the  national  officers.  This  is  a 
large,  if  not  the  largest,  factor  in  the  increasing  control  of 
strikes  by  the  national  unions. 

The  early  trade  unions  paid  benefits  to  some  extent,  for 
the  Philadelphia  Cordwainers  in  1806  supplemented  by 
benefits  what  they  received  by  cobbling  and  by  doing 
market  work.^  The  New  York  Society  of  Printers  gave 
relief  in  1809,  six  dollars  being  awarded  two  members 
"who  had  been  thrown  out  of  employment  in  consequence 
of  refusing  to  work  for  less  than  the  established  prices."^ 
The  Pittsburg  Cordwainers  in  181 5  paid  no  fixed  allowance; 
but  poor  members  distressed  for  market  money  were  allowed 
to  take  three  or  four  dollars  out  of  the  box.^  This  early 
trade-union  movement  reached  its  height  just  before  the 
panic  of  1837.  The  General  Trades  Union  of  New  York 
and  vicinity  during  1834  to  1836  supported  strikes  of  various 
trades — bakers,  hatters,  rope-makers,  sailmakers,  cabinet- 
makers, stone-cutters,  cordwainers,  weavers,  curriers,  leather 
dressers,  tailors — in  and  about  New  York,  besides  furnishing 

^  Commons  and  Gilmore,  vol.  iii,  p.  33. 

'  Barnett,  p.  267. 

^  Commons  and  Gilmore,  vol.  iv,  p.  34. 


427]  STRIKE    BENEFITS  89 

aid  to  strikes  in  Boston,  Philadelphia,  and  other  cities. 
"The  different  Trades  are  combined  together  in  what  is 
called  a  'Trade  Union,'  and  each  in  its  turn  is  supported 
by  the  others  in  striking  for  higher  wages, "^  reported  The 
Journal  of  Commerce.  The  Bookbinders  in  1836  were 
likewise  supported  by  a  number  of  trade  unions.^ 

The  present  trade-union  movement  began  about  1850. 
At  a  convention  of  the  journeymen  printers  of  the  United 
States  held  in  New  York  in  that  year  it  was  provided  that 
each  union  was  to  have  the  right  in  time  of  strike  to  borrow 
from  sister  unions  to  the  amount  of  one  dollar  for  each 
member.  This  convention  at  its  third  meeting  in  1852 
resolved  itself  into  the  First  Session  of  the  National  Typo- 
graphical Union.  By  i860  the  members  of  printers'  unions 
had  come  to  regard  it  as  the  duty  of  the  union  to  give 
relief  in  case  of  strike;^  but  until  the  establishment  in 
1885  of  the  national  strike  fund  there  was  no  penalty 
attached  to  the  breaking  of  national  strike  rules.'^ 

The  evolution  of  strike  benefits  may  be  brought  out 
best  by  a  study  of  their  development  in  the  Iron  Holders, 
the  Cigar  Makers,  and  the  Bricklayers  and  Masons,  three 
of  the  oldest  unions.  The  Iron  Molders'  International 
Union  was  organized  in  1859;  at  first  it  was  simply  a  federa- 
tion and  provided  no  definite  strike  benefits,  but  authorized 
the  president  to  levy  assessments  for  mutual  assistance  in 
time  of  trouble.  A  strike  in  1859  was  financed  by  an 
assessment  imposed  by  the  local  union  upon  the  members 
still  at  work  and  by  contributions  from  other  local  unions 
made  through  the  national  union.  The  convention  of 
i860  provided  for  revenue  by  an  annual  tax  of  five  cents 
on  each  member.^  The  convention  of  1861  gave  a  local 
union  on  strike  $350.  Numerous  small  strikes  were 
reported  at  this  convention.     A  pro  rata  assessment  not 

*  Commons  and  Gilmore,  vol.  v,  p.  205. 

^  Ibid.,  p.  327. 

^  Barnett,  p.  268. 

^  Ibid.,  p.  327.  See  chapter  in  this  study  on  The  Development  of 
Control. 

^International  Journal  [Iron  Molders],  February,  1874,  P-  258; 
March,  1874,  p.  289;  March  31,  1881,  p.  4. 


90       CONTROL  OF  STRIKES  IN  AMERICAN  TRADE  UNIONS    [428 

to  exceed  two  per  cent  on  the  wages  earned  was  levied  by 
the  convention  of  1863.  One  strike  in  that  year  cost  the 
national  union  $12,642.38.  Another  strike  in  this  same 
year,  growing  out  of  the  apprentice  question,  cost  about 
$30,000,  and  continued  over  a  year.^  President  Sylvis 
reported  to  the  convention  of  1866  that  the  cost  to  the 
organization  and  the  local  anions  for  strikes  and  lockouts 
for  the  six  years  ending  January  i,  1866,  was  $1,161,582.26, 
or  on  an  average  per  year  of  $24  per  member.  The  usual 
method  of  raising  the  benefits  was  the  issuing  of  a  circular 
by  the  national  president  to  all  the  local  unions  calling 
upon  the  members  to  pay  a  tax  equal  to  five  per  cent  upon 
their  earnings.  It  was  left  with  each  local  union  to  vote 
to  enforce  this  provision.^"  In  1866  the  recommendation 
was  made  that  as  trouble  was  anticipated  from  the  action 
of  an  employers'  convention,  every  local  union  should  so 
arrange  its  finances  that  it  could  remit  promptly  all  strike 
assessments  to  the  central  office.  The  convention  of  1867 
authorized  the  national  president  to  lay  an  assessment; 
but  delay  in  remittances  often  led  to  such  payments  being 
made  in  union  script  instead  of  in  cash.  A  large  number 
of  strikes  in  1869  resulted  in  a  considerable  debt,  which  was 
only  gradually  paid  o£f.^^  Delay  in  payment  by  local 
unions  continued,  making  strike  benefits  uncertain.  In 
1882  a  strike  reserve  fund  was  established. 

The  Cigar  Makers,  organized  in  1864,  did  not  provide 
any  means  for  financing  strikes,  although  the  first  consti- 
tution stated  that  a  local  union  on  strike  "shall  receive  the 
support  of  each  and  every  union. "^^  The  plan  of  voluntary 
contributions  was  adopted  by  the  officers  in  the  absence 
of  all  rules  upon  the  subject.^^  Circulars  were  sent  in  each 
case,  and  local  unions  responded  with  aid.     An  assessment 

8  "This  strike  developed  a  class  of  men  who  would  not  leave  the 
City,  but  remained  on  strike  and  received  strike  money  when  they  could 
have  earned  more  outside  of  Philadelphia.  Timid  to  try  fortunes 
elsewhere"  (Iron  Molders'  Journal,  May  31,  1881,  p.  4). 

1"  International  Journal  [Iron  Molders],  October,  1866,  p.  250. 

"  Iron  Molders'  Journal,  April  30,  1879,  P-  2. 

'2  Constitution,  1864,  art.  vi,  sec.  I. 

"  Proceedings,  1866,  p.  69. 


429]  STRIKE   BENEFITS  9 1 

was  laid  by  the  convention  of  1867  in  the  form  of  a  tax  of 
twenty-five  cents  per  month  per  member  for  strike  purposes, 
the  money  to  remain  with  the  local  union  subject  to  the 
call  of  the  national  union. ^*  Two  protracted  strikes  in 
1869  and  1870  necessitated  heavy  extra  assessments.  In 
place  of  cash,  due  bills  were  issued  to  members.  In  1869 
the  membership  was  5800;  in  1873  it  had  decreased  to 
3771.  In  1879  a  permanent  strike  fund  was  adopted  in 
place  of  assessments. 

The  experience  of  the  Bricklayers  and  Masons,  organized 
in  1865,  has  been  much  the  same  as  that  of  the  Iron  Molders 
and  the  Cigar  Makers,  although  its  first  president  recom- 
mended the  establishment  of  a  strike  fund.^^  In  1868  a 
circular  was  issued  and  an  assessment  laid  on  the  local 
unions  by  President  Frost  according  to  an  estimate  of 
what  was  necessary  for  the  strike. ^^  Another  tax  during 
the  same  year  of  twelve  and  a  half  cents  per  member  was 
ordered  sent  directly  to  the  local  union  on  strike  by  the 
national  president.^^  A  permanent  relief  fund  for  strikes 
was  urged  by  President  Gaul  in  1869,  the  need  of  such 
a  plan  having  been  seen  by  President  Frost  in  the  previous 
year.  Gaul  declared  that  the  failure  of  the  strike  in  that 
year  was  "owing  to  the  delay  necessarily  arising  from 
our  present  plan  of  collecting  assessments."  Assessments 
continued  to  be  laid  for  strike  benefits,  although  in  1875 
President  Carr  said  that  a  strike  fund  was  needed  "on 
account  of  the  tendencies  to  utter  neglect  of  individual 
unions  in  responding  to  the  requisition  of  the  National 
Union  for  relief  assessments."^^  The  convention  of  1882 
considered  the  raising  of  a  strike  fund,  but  deemed  it  im- 
practicable. Strike  assessments  continued,  and  although 
the  convention  of  1887  passed  a  rule  requiring  subordinate 

"  Proceedings,  1867,  p.  151. 

15  Proceedings,  1882,  p.  17. 

1^  Proceedings,  1868,  p.  14. 

1^  Proceedings,  1868,  p.  18.  The  constitution  required  during  a 
strike  a  tax  of  not  less  than  10  and  not  exceeding  50  cents  on  each 
member  per  day,  sickness  excepted,  and  all  money  thus  raised  was  to 
be  sent  to  the  general  treasury  (Constitution,  1867,  art.  xii,  sec.  4). 

1^  Proceedings,  1875,  p.  8. 


92       CONTROL  OF  STRIKES  IN  AMERICAN  TRADE  UNIONS    [43O 

unions  to  levy  a  per  capita  tax  of  one  dollar  in  advance,  it 
was  not  until  1891  that  a  regular  strike  fund  was  established. 

The  Knights  of  St.  Crispin,  a  national  organization  of 
shoemakers,  the  largest  of  the  many  national  unions  that 
flourished  during  the  ten  years  after  the  Civil  War,  had  a 
similar  experience.  Grievance  funds  were  raised  by 
annual  contributions  of  each  member  to  a  "contingent 
fund"  held  in  the  treasuries  of  the  local  lodges,  and  by 
special  assessments.  Requisition  on  the  "special  con- 
tingent fund"  by  numerous  strikes  led  to  the  downfall  of 
the  organization.^^ 

The  experience  of  these  unions  demonstrated  that  it  was 
necessary  to  have  funds  on  hand  with  which  to  pay  strike 
benefits  instead  of  being  obliged  to  wait  for  the  payment 
of  strike  assessments.  Such  funds  should  be  accumulated 
and  held  in  reserve  for  times  of  necessity,  thereby  distrib- 
uting the  strain  of  payment  over  a  longer  period  of  time. 
The  power  of  sustaining  members  is  the  key  to  success  in  a 
strike,  and  this  can  be  secured  only  when  there  is  an 
accumulated  fund  to  draw  on.  Benefits  paid  after  a 
strike  has  ended  are  not  of  much  influence  in  winning  that 
particular  strike. 

The  Cigar  Makers  from  1873  to  1879  could  not  pay  the 
strike  benefits  provided  for  by  their  rules ;  strikes  were  lost, 
members  withdrew,  and  wages  were  reduced.  A  reserve 
fund  was  inaugurated  in  1879  by  providing  that  every 
local  union  should  collect  from  every  member  in  standing 
15  cents  per  month  and  retain  this  as  a  strike  fund.  For 
every  new  member  admitted  25  cents  was  to  be  added  to 
the  fund.  In  1881  the  amount  was  raised  to  20  cents  per 
month  and  50  cents  for  every  new  member.  The  funds 
were  to  remain  in  the  custody  of  the  local  union  subject 
to  the  order  of  the  national  officers,  and  were  not  to  be 
used  except  for  strike  purposes.  When  the  amount  fell 
below  $1.50  per  member,  an  assessment  was  to  be  made.^" 

19  D.  C.  Lescohier,  "The  Knights  of  St.  Crispin,"  in  Bulletin  of  the 
University  of  Wisconsin,  no.  365,  pp.  32-35. 

20  Constitution,  1879,  art.  xiii,  sec.  6;  1881,  art.  vi,  sec.  12.  Any 
local  union  failing  to  remit  funds  within  five  days  when  so  directed  by 
the  executive  board  was  to  be  suspended. 


43l]  STRIKE   BENEFITS  93 

Later  the  reserve  fund  was  increased  to  $io  per  member. 
An  editorial  in  the  official  organ  concerning  this  fund  said: 
"We  claim  that  the  accumulation  of  a  large  fund,  to  which 
the  adopted  laws  are  but  a  commencement,  will  have  the 
influence  of  decreasing  strikes  and  in  lessening  failures. 
The  employers  of  labor  generally  attack  those  organizations 
which  are  weak  and  without  funds  and  thereby  unable  to 
hold  out  long  enough  to  injure  their  business. "^^ 

For  several  years  prior  to  the  inauguration  of  a  strike 
fund,  writers  in  the  official  organ  of  the  Iron  Molders 
urged  the  accumulation  of  a  defense  fund  to  meet  the 
exigencies  of  protracted  contests.  One  writer  said  that 
organization  was  necessary,  but  that  a  full  treasury  was 
even  more  so,  and  that  without  a  reserve  fund  defeat  was 
sure.  Another  writer  declared  that  all  benefits  should  be 
paid  promptly,  and  that  two  or  three  months  should  not 
be  allowed  to  elapse  before  strikers  received  their  benefits.^^ 
President  Fitzpatrick  recommended  in  his  report  to  the 
convention  of  1882  such  a  fund,  and  a  tax  of  one  dollar 
per  member  was  laid.  Power  was  also  granted  to  the 
executive  board  to  levy  assessments  to  replenish  the  fund 
in  case  of  emergency .^^  In  1886  the  assessment  was  limited 
to  $1  per  member  per  quarter;  but  this  limitation  was 
revoked  in  1888.^^  The  finances  of  the  organization  were 
put  on  a  stronger  basis  in  1890  by  the  inauguration  of  a 
tax  of  40  cents  a  month  on  every  member  for  the  use  of  the 
national  union  and  by  having  fifty-eight  per  cent  of  this 
40  cents,  or  23  cents,  go  into  the  strike  fund.  In  1895  the 
assessment  was  changed  to  10  cents  per  week,  with  fifty- 
eight  per  cent  to  go  to  the  strike  fund.  In  1902  an  addi- 
tional levy  of  $1  per  year,  payable  quarterly  by  every 
member  for  the  benefit  of  the  fund,  was  made. 

The  Flint  Glass  Workers  established  a  "resistance  fund" 
as  early  as  1881  by  setting  apart  twenty  cents  per  member 

"  Cigar  Makers'  Official  Journal,  June  10,  1879. 

"Iron  Molders'  Journal,  July  10,  1880,  p.  1;  November  30,  1881, 

P-3- 

"  Proceedings,  1882,  pp.  12,  77. 

**  Proceedings,  1886,  p.  51;  1888,  p.  102. 


94       CONTROL  OF  STRIKES  IN  AMERICAN  TRADE  UNIONS    [432 

per  month  "for  the  aid  of  any  member  or  members,  who 
shall  be  engaged  in  redressing  a  grievance  by  strike,  and 
to  be  used  for  no  other  purpose."  Special  assessments 
could  also  be  made  by  the  national  officers.^^  Secretary 
Dillon  spoke  at  the  1887  convention  of  the  advantage  of 
having  a  substantial  fund,  and  claimed  that  strikes  in  unions 
with  such  a  fund  were  less  numerous,  shorter  in  duration, 
and  of  less  severity  than  those  in  unions  without  strike 
funds.^®  The  present  rule  was  established  in  1888,  and 
requires  that  a  certain  percentage  of  the  earnings  of  all 
members,  to  be  collected  at  each  factory  or  shop  by  two 
clerks,  shall  be  paid  over  to  the  financial  secretary  and 
sent  by  him  to  headquarters.  From  two  to  ten  per  cent 
of  earnings  have  been  thus  assessed  for  the  resistance  fund, 
the  rate  varying  according  to  prospective  necessity. 

The  Operative  Potters,  like  the  Flint  Glass  Workers, 
raise  the  money  for  their  strike  fund  by  an  assessment  on 
the  earnings  of  their  members.  The  amount  of  the  assess- 
ment was  fixed  at  the  time  of  the  establishment  of  the 
fund  in  1894  at  one  per  cent  of  all  earnings.^^  There  is  a 
collector  in  each  pottery,  to  whom  the  members  must 
show  their  pay  envelopes  and  who  collects  the  assessment 
and  turns  it  over  to  the  local  secretary.  The  latter  at  the 
end  of  each  month  sends  it  on  to  headquarters.  Members 
failing  to  pay  for  three  consecutive  pay  days,  or  six  weeks, 
are  subject  to  suspension .^^ 

In  1885  the  Printers,  as  the  outcome  of  many  years  of 
discussion,  adopted  a  plan  for  a  strike  fund.  The  failure 
to  inaugurate  such  a  fund  previously  had  been  due  to 
lack  of  any  strong  need  for  it.  "The  printing  industry," 
says  Professor  Barnett,  "was  so  essentially  a  local  in- 
dustry, and  the  conditions  in  different  places  varied  so 
widely,  that  the  printers  of  one  town  had  little  direct 
interest  in  assisting  the  printers  of  other  places.  The 
older  and  more  powerful  unions,  feeling  themselves  able  to 

*^  Constitution,  1 880-1 881,  art.  vii,  sees.  1-3. 

^°  Proceedings,  1887,  pp.  68,  71. 

'^  Proceedings,  1894,  P-  ^9- 

*8  Local  Constitution,  1910,  sees.  112,  135,  136. 


433]  STRIKE   BENEFITS  95 

finance  their  own  strikes,  were  unwilling  to  contribute  to  a 
fund  which  they  feared  would  be  used  chiefly  to  support 
the  smaller  and  weaker  unions. "^^  Even  where  the  need 
of  a  national  fund  was  obvious,  objection  was  frequently 
made.  An  opponent  of  the  establishment  by  the  Stone 
Cutters  in  1900  of  a  strike  fund  by  an  annual  levy  de- 
nounced the  plan  as  all  wrong  "because  such  a  fund  would 
become  a  corruption  fund,  and  would  prove  the  rock  upon 
which  the  National  Union  would  go  to  pieces  in  the  near 
future.  "3" 

Not  only  is  a  national  defense  fund  maintained  by  many 
unions,  but  at  times  a  special  defense  fund  is  raised  for  a 
definite  purpose.  The  Bricklayers  and  Masons,  for 
instance,  in  1907  found  it  necessary  to  work  against  the 
open-shop  policy  of  the  National  Manufacturers'  Asso- 
ciation, and  so  instituted  a  non-union  shop  defense  fund. 
A  circular  was  sent  out  to  all  the  local  unions  asking  for 
donations  and  emphasizing  the  fact  that  there  had  been 
no  extra  assessments  for  sixteen  years.  The  convention 
of  1908  laid  an  assessment  of  a  dollar  a  year  on  each  mem- 
ber for  the  next  two  years,  and  provided  that  the  fund  was 
to  be  used  only  in  non-union  shop  districts.  About 
$44,000  was  expended  from  this  fund  in  1908.^^  A  local 
union  on  strike  in  1911,  although  it  had  not  been  organized 
a  year  as  required  for  official  strike  sanction,  was  granted 
aid  from  this  fund  by  the  national  officers.^^ 

Variations  from  the  ordinary  plan  for  a  strike  fund  are 

found  in  the  Cap  Makers  and  in  the  Chain  Makers.     These 

unions  have  no  national  defense  funds,  and  have  endeavored 

to  remedy  the  deficiency  by  making  provision  for  local 

funds.     The  rules  of  the  former  union  provide  that  every 

local  union  shall  have  in  its  treasury  six  months  after  it 

has  been  chartered  the  equivalent  of  two  weeks'  strike 
_____ 

">  Stone  Cutters'  Journal,  October,  1900,  p.  7. 

"Forty-second  Annual  Report  of  President  and  Secretary,  1907, 
pp.  419,  459;  Proceedings,  1908,  p.  199;  Forty-third  Annual  Report  of 
President  and  Secretary,  1908,  p.  339. 

'2  Bricklayer,  Mason  and  Plasterer,  April,  191 1,  p.  75. 


96       CONTROL  OF  STRIKES  IN  AMERICAN  TRADE  UNIONS    [434 

benefits  for  its  members,  and  this  sum  may  be  raised  by 
assessment.^^  The  Chain  Makers  provided  in  1908  that 
each  of  their  local  unions  should  raise  a  strike  fund  by 
requiring  every  member  to  pay  a  weekly  amount  speci- 
fied by  the  local  union.  Members  transferring  to  another 
local  union  may  have  their  funds  transferred  upon  de- 
positing their  cards.  In  case  of  a  strike  a  member  receives 
$6  per  week  until  his  fund  is  exhausted.  Every  member 
must,  however,  pay  into  this  fund  until  he  has  $150  to  his 
credit.  Members  withdrawing  are  not  to  receive  their 
funds  for  six  months,  while  in  case  of  death  the  funds  go 
to  the  nearest  relative  or  are  used  for  burial  purposes.^^ 

The  methods  used  by  the  Cigar  Makers,  the  Iron  Molders, 
the  Flint  Glass  Workers,  and  the  Operative  Potters  for  the 
establishment  and  maintenance  of  strike  funds  are  typical. 
Strike  funds  are  accumulated  (i)  by  a  regular  tax  on  every 
member;  or  (2)  a  certain  percentage  of  all  dues  is  so 
apportioned;  or  (3)  special  dues,  such  as  those  imposed 
for  the  initiation  or  reinstatement  of  members,  are  dedi- 
cated to  the  fund ;  or  (4)  special  assessments  are  made  from 
time  to  time. 

(i)  Among  the  unions  levying  an  annual  tax  may  be 
found  the  Iron,  Tin  and  Steel  Workers,  the  Elevator  Con- 
structors, and  the  Metal  Polishers,  who  levy  $3  per  year; 
the  Railway  Conductors,  who  levy  $2 ;  the  Brewery  Work- 
men, the  Railway  Trainmen,  the  Iron  Molders,  and  the 
Street  and  Electric  Car  Employees,  who  levy  $1. 

(2)  The  amount  set  aside  from  the  dues  varies  in  differ- 
ent unions.  The  Sheet  Metal  Workers  turn  5  cents  of  a 
15  cents  per  capita  tax  per  month  into  the  fund.^^  The 
Tile  Layers  also  set  aside  5  cents  per  member  per  month  .^' 
The  Tin  Plate  Workers  appropriate  10  cents  out  of  a  per 
capita  tax  of  25  cents  per  month."     Thirty-eight  per  cent 

*'  Constitution  [n.  d.],  art.  xvi,  sec.  I. 

"  Proceedings,  1908,  p.  68. 

''  Proceedings,  1901,  p.  3. 

/« Proceedings,  1910,  pp.  9,  25,  34.  In  addition  to  this  member- 
ship tax,  all  local  unions  pay  five  dollars  per  quarter  to  be  added  to  the 
defense  fund. 

"  Constitution,  1908,  art.  vi,  sec.  2. 


435]  STRIKE   BENEFITS  97 

of  all  income  is  thus  used  by  the  Boiler  Makers,^^  thirty- 
three  and  a  third  by  the  Tobacco  Workers,^^  and  fifteen 
per  cent  by  the  Painters.^^ 

(3)  Payments  for  initiation  of  members  in  local  unions 
are  in  some  unions  turned  into  the  defense  fund.  The 
Bricklayers  and  Masons,  the  Operative  Plasterers,  and  the 
Stove  Mounters  receive  one  dollar  for  the  fund  for  every 
new  member,  while  the  Railway  Carmen  receive  two 
dollars.  Special  assessments  may  be  laid  by  the  general 
executive  board  in  most  unions  for  the  defense  fund  in 
case  of  necessity  or  when  the  fund  sinks  below  a  certain 
amount.^ 

(4)  There  are  still  a  number  of  unions  which  finance 
strikes  partially  or  entirely  by  assessments.  Strike  assess- 
ments may  be  imposed  (a)  by  a  local  union  on  its  own 
members,   (b)  by  a  district  lodge  or  district  committee, 

(c)  by  the  general  executive  board  of  the  national  union, 

(d)  by  a  referendum  vote  of  the  entire  membership,  and 

(e)  by  a  general  convention.  The  assessment  by  a  local 
union  of  its  own  members  takes  place,  of  course,  only  when 
a  strike  is  a  local  one.^  The  district  lodge  or  district 
committee,  which  exists  where  there  is  more  than  one  local 
union  in  a  place,  takes  charge  in  some  instances  of  a  strike, 
as  has  been  shown,  and  it  has  also  power  in  a  number  of 
unions  to  lay  strike  assessments  when  necessary .^^  In  some 
fifty  national  unions  such  assessments  are  made  by  the 
executive  boards,  which  have  general  authority  as  to  time 
and  amount.     In  several  unions  the  amount  that  may  be 

^*  Proceedings,  1908,  p.  473. 

''  Constitution,  1905,  sec.  34. 

"Constitution,  1911,  sec.  191. 

^  The  general  executive  board  of  the  Boot  and  Shoe  Workers  was 
given  authority  in  1899  to  raise  a  strike  fund  by  a  series  of  assessments 
to  the  amount  of  five  dollars  per  capita  (Proceedings,  1899,  p.  38). 

*2  A  local  union  of  the  Barbers  levied  an  assessment  of  fifty  cents  per 
member  on  each  member  who  was  working  (Journeyman  Barber, 
August,  191 1,  p.  226).  This  rule  is  observed  also  by  the  Bakery 
and  Confectionery  Workers,  the  Brewery  Workmen,  the  Glove  Workers, 
and  the  Painters,  and  by  those  local  unions  which  finance  their  own 
strikes. 

*^  For  example,  the  Boiler  Makers,  the  Carpenters,  the  Painters, 
the  Machinists,  and  the  Brewery  Workers. 


98       CONTROL  OF  STRIKES  IN  AMERICAN  TRADE  UNIONS    [436 

SO  assessed  is  fixed  by  a  general  rule.^  The  referendum 
vote  in  the  unions  which  require  it  covers  either  all  strike 
assessments  or  those  proposed  assessments  which  are  in 
excess  of  the  amount  fixed  by  a  general  rule.^^  A  regular 
or  a  special  convention  of  a  national  union  in  cases  of  general 
strikes  orders  a  special  assessment  for  the  particular  strike 
and  authorizes  the  general  officers  to  collect  the  same. 
Special  movements,  like  the  one  against  the  open  shop  by 
the  Bricklayers  and  Masons  just  described,  or  an  effort 
to  obtain  a  shorter  working  day,  are  generally  preceded 
by  action  of  the  convention  looking  toward  the  accumula- 
tion of  the  sinews  of  war. 

The  Flint  Glass  Workers  in  1887,  on  the  prospect  of  a 
general  strike,  laid  an  assessment  of  $i  a  week  on  each 
member.  This  was  raised  to  $1.50  per  week  and  then  to 
$1.75.  In  May,  1888,  a  flat  assessment  of  $16  was  laid  on 
each  employed  member.  The  United  Mine  Workers  in 
1902  during  the  anthracite  coal  strike  imposed  an  assess- 
ment of  ten  per  cent  on  the  gross  earnings  of  members  in 
certain  districts,  of  $i  per  week  on  members  in  other 
districts,  and  an  assessment  of  twenty-five  per  cent  upon 
the  wages,  salaries,  or  percentages  received  from  the 
organization  by  all  national,  district,  and  subdistrict 
officers  and  organizers.^^  The  Printers  during  the  struggle 
for  the  eight-hour  day  from  1906  to  1908  collected  by 
assessment  $2,800,000.'*^  These  assessments  represent  ab- 
normal   conditions.     Ordinarily,    assessments    are    much 

^  The  Bookbinders,  the  Brick,  Tile  and  Terra  Cotta  Alliance,  and 
the  Broom  Makers  fix  the  maximum  at  25  cents  per  week;  the  Inter- 
national Seamen  do  not  allow  over  $1  per  month  per  member,  nor  for 
more  than  three  months  in  any  one  fiscal  year;  while  in  the  Powder 
Workers  and  the  Wood-Workers  the  amount  prescribed  is  50  cents 
and  25  cents  a  month  respectively.  The  Bridge  and  Structural  Iron 
Workers  on  account  of  the  McNamara  disclosures  passed  a  resolution 
in  191 1  that  at  any  time  of  "crisis,  disaster  or  fatality"  there  should 
be  no  limit  set  to  assessments. 

^^  The  Boiler  Makers  in  191 1  by  a  vote  of  4773  to  1887  voted  a  ten 
weeks'  assessment  of  $1  per  week  per  member  for  boiler  makers  and 
50  cents  per  week  for  workers  and  apprentices  (Boiler  Makers'  Journal, 
December,  191 1,  p.  1006). 

*^  Proceedings,  Special  Convention,  IQ02,  p.  4.7. 

*'  Barnett,  p.  80. 


437]        •  STRIKE   BENEFITS  99 

smaller,  as  shown  by  the  following  instances:  The  Com- 
mercial Telegraphers  in  1908  taxed  their  members  one 
day's  pay;^^  the  Carpenters  and  Joiners  in  1911  made  the 
first  assessment  in  eight  years,  one  of  50  cents  per  member; 
the  Stove  Mounters  in  1906  laid  a  tax  of  $1  per  member, 
while  in  the  same  year  the  Iron  Holders  made  an  assess- 
ment of  ID  cents  a  week,  then  three  levies  of  $1  each,  and, 
finally,  one  of  $1  per  month.  The  United  Mine  Workers 
in  1910  made  a  levy  of  25  cents  per  week  per  member. 
The  ordinary  penalty  for  non-payment  of  such  strike 
assessments  by  local  unions  or  by  members  is  suspension  .^^ 
Although  the  collection  of  strike  assessments  has  not 
ceased,  the  adoption  of  the  strike  fund  in  some  one  of  its 
various  forms  has  progressed  so  that  today  it  is  found  in 
some  sixty-five  national  unions  as  follows:  the  Amalga- 
mated Woodworkers,  the  Bakers,  the  Barbers,  the  Brewery 
Workers,  the  Boot  and  Shoe  Workers,  the  Bridge  and 
Structural  Iron  Workers,  the  Bookbinders,  the  Black- 
smiths, the  Bricklayers  and  Masons,  the  Brick,  Tile  and 
Terra  Cotta  Alliance,  the  Broom  Workers,  the  Boiler 
Makers,  the  Car  Workers,  the  Cutting  Die  Makers,  the 
Cap  Makers,  the  Chain  Makers,  the  Coopers,  the  Cigar 
Makers,  the  Carriage  and  Wagon  Workers,  the  Cement 
Workers,  the  Commercial  Telegraphers,  the  Elevator 
Constructors,  the  Granite  Cutters,  the  Hatters,  the  Hotel 
and  Restaurant  Workers,  the  Iron,  Steel  and  Tin  Workers, 
the  Industrial  Workers  of  the  World,  the  Iron  Molders, 
the  Locomotive  Engineers,  the  Firemen,  the  Conductors, 
the  Trainmen,  the  Metal  Polishers,  the  Operative  Plasterers, 
the  Operative  Potters,  the  Painters,  the  Pattern  Makers, 
the  Printers,  the  Photo-Engravers,  the  Plate  Printers,  the 
Railroad  Clerks,  the  Railroad  Telegraphers,  the  Railway 
Carmen,  the  Retail  Clerks,  the  Stone  Cutters,  the  Stove 
Mounters,  the  Street  and  Electric  Railway  Employees, 
the  Slate  Workers,  the  Stogie  Makers,  the  Steam  Engineers, 

*^  Commercial  Telegraphers'  Journal,  June,  1908,  p.  340. 

^^  The  Cement  Workers,  one  of  the  smaller  national  unions,  imposed 
a  strike  assessment  in  1910,  and  some  seven  local  unions  failed  to  pay 
and  returned  their  charters  (Proceedings,  1910,  pp.  21-22). 


100    CONTROL  OF  STRIKES  IN  AMERICAN  TRADE  UNIONS   [438 

the  Steam  Fitters,  the  Sheet  Metal  Workers,  the  Teamsters, 
the  Tin  Plate  Workers,  the  Travelers'  Goods  and  Leather 
Novelty  Workers,  the  Theatrical  Stage  Employees,  the 
Tile  Layers,  the  Tobacco  Workers,  the  Upholsterers,  and 
the  United  Mine  Workers. 

Some  unions  provide  a  maximum  limit  to  the  growth  of 
the  fund  as  follows: 

Street  and  Electric  Railway  Employees,  1903.  .  .$  100,000 
Street  and  Electric  Railway  Employees,  1907^". .   1,000,000 

Locomotive  Engineers^^ 500,000 

Railway  Conductors'^ 200,000 

Railway  Trainmen^^ 300,000 

Elevator  Constructors'^ 50,000 

Operative  Plasterers'' 50,000 

Stone  Cutters'^ 4,000 

Cutting  Die  and  Cutter  Makers'^ 300 

Sheet  Metal  Workers'^ 2,000 

Chain  Makers'^  per  member 150 

Other  unions  provide  that  a  certain  minimum  amount 
must  be  kept: 

Brewery  Workmen^^ $25,000 

Granite  Cutters^^ 25,000 

Tin  Plate  Workers^^ 10,000 

Slate  Workers®^ 300 

Wood  Carvers,^  per  member i 

The  ordinary  procedure  is  to  continue  strike  dues  until 

^°  Proceedings,  1903,  pp.  14,  35;  1907,  p.  64. 

"All  over  fso.ooo  to  be  applied  to  Brotherhood  of  Locomotive 
Engineers'  Building  (Constitution,  1910,  sec.  46). 

*2  Proceedings,  1891,  pp.  341-347;  Constitution,  1909,  sec.  75. 

"  Protective  Fund,  Rule  no.  16. 

"  Proceedings,  1904,  pp.  10,  11. 

^  The  Plasterer,  August,  191 1,  p.  18. 

"  Constitution,  1909,  art.  vi,  by-laws,  art.  xvii. 

"  Constitution,  191 1,  art.  xvi,  sec.  5. 

**  Proceedings,  1905,  p.  353. 

"  Proceedings,  1908,  p.  68. 

*"  Constitution,  1910,  art.  xiii,  sec.  4. 

*^  Constitution,  1909,  sec.  18. 

*'  Constitution,  1908,  art.  vi,  sec.  4. 

®'  Constitution,  1906,  art.  xi,  sec.  2. 

"  Constitution,  1908,  p.  16. 


439]  STRIKE    BENEFITS  lOI 

the  maximum  amount  is  reached  and  to  lay  a  special 
assessment  when  the  amount  falls  below  the  minimum  set. 
The  Amalgamated  Association  of  Iron,  Steel  and  Tin 
Workers  requires,  however,  that  not  less  than  ten  thousand 
dollars  shall  be  in  the  national  treasury  in  order  that 
benefits  may  be  paid.^^ 

The  status  of  the  strike  funds  in  some  ten  unions,  shown 
by  the  amounts  on  hand  at  a  certain  time,  was  as  follows: 

Bakers,  April  i,  1911 $  30,516.06 

Barbers,  July  1,1911 15,362.17 

Boot  and  Shoe  Workers,  1909 151,626.53 

Bridge  and  Structural  Iron  Workers,  June  30, 

1910 33,103.37 

Flint  Glass  Workers,  Sept.,  1911 96,000.00 

Hotel  and  Restaurant  Workers,  Jan.  i,  1909. . .     21,294.77 

Locomotive  Firemen,  Jan.  i,  1911 352,752.54 

Painters,  Jan.  i,  1911 14,529.67 

Operative  Potters,  June  i,  1910 320,163.58 

The  variation  in  amounts  is  due  to  the  length  of  time  the 
fund  has  been  established,  the  number  of  members,  and 
the  dues  paid  into  the  fund.  The  amount  of  the  fund  of 
the  Bakery  and  Confectionery  Workers  since  its  institution 
in  1904  has  been  as  follows:*^ 

Oct.    I,  1905,  balance  on  hand $      142.10 

"     I,  1906,       "         "       "     2,847.00 

Sept.  I,  1907,       "         "      "     20,466.17 

"     I,  1908,       "        "      "     36,58301 

"     I,  1909,       "         "      "     39,040.31 

"     I,  1910,       "         "      "     12,816.06 

Jan.    I,  1911,       "        "      "     23,884.01 

The  Boot  and  Shoe  Workers,  the  Locomotive  Firemen, 
and  the  Operative  Potters  report  the  largest  amounts  on 
hand.  These  three  unions  allow  no  independent  strikes, 
have  high  dues,  and  exercise  a  larger  degree  of  central 
control  than  do  most  of  the  others.     On  the  other  hand, 

^  Constitution,  1910,  art.  x,  sec.  4. 

^^The  Bakers'  Journal,  January  14,  1911,  p.  66. 


I02     CONTROL  OF  STRIKES  IN  AMERICAN  TRADE  UNIONS   [44O 

the  Barbers,  the  Hotel  and  Restaurant  Workers,  and  the 
Painters  allow  a  large  measure  of  autonomy  to  their  local 
unions. 

On  account  of  the  general  tendency  among  new  local 
unions  to  agitate  grievances  which  may  result  in  strikes 
and  exhaust  the  strike  fund,  many  national  unions  provide 
for  a  certain  definite  length  of  time  before  a  local  union 
may  receive  strike  benefits.  A  few,  like  the  Blacksmiths 
and  the  Cutting  Die  and  Cutter  Makers,  give  benefits  at 
once,  but  the  general  rule  is  that  the  local  union  must  be 
affiliated  with  the  national  union  for  from  three  months 
to  one  year  before  benefits  can  be  given.^''  In  1886  the 
Flint  Glass  Workers  provided  that  the  local  union  must 
be  organized  six  months  to  receive  strike  aid,  and  in  the 
following  year  waited  for  the  expiration  of  six  months 
before  submitting  one  case  to  a  general  vote.®^ 

Not  only  must  the  local  union  have  been  organized  a 
minimum  time,  but  in  a  number  of  national  unions  indi- 
vidual members  must  be  in  good  standing  at  general 
headquarters  as  to  dues  and  must  have  been  affiliated  for  a 
certain  length  of  time.^^  In  some  unions,  like  the  Ma- 
chinists, an  elaborate  card  catalogue  of  all  members  is  kept 
by  the  general  secretary-treasurer,  and  no  benefits  are 
paid  unless  all  obligations  have  been  met.  The  Stone 
Cutters  provided  in  1900  that  members  not  in  good  standing 
at  headquarters  should  forfeit  all  claims  to  strike  benefits, 

^^  The  Brick,  Tile  and  Terra  Cotta  Workers'  Alliance,  the  Coopers, 
and  the  Rubber  Workers  require  three  months;  the  Bookbinders,  the 
Bakers,  the  Car  Workers,  the  Flint  Glass  Workers,  the  Metal  Polishers, 
the  Operative  Potters,  the  Sheet  Metal  Workers,  and  the  Teamsters, 
six  months,  and  the  Bricklayers  and  Masons,  the  Elevator  Construc- 
tors, the  Photo-Engravers,  and  the  Stone  Cutters,  one  year.  The  rule 
of  the  Elevator  Constructors  excepts  strikes  called  by  a  central  body 
(Proceedings,  1903,  p.  30).  The  Operative  Potters  allow  benefits  to  a 
local  union  organized  less  than  six  months  if  the  strike  is  approved  by 
a  majority  vote  of  the  trade  (Constitution,  1910,  sec.  60). 

^8  Proceedings,  1887,  p.  19;  Constitution,  1886,  art.  viii,  sec.  3. 

^^  Such  rules  are  enforced  by  the  Boiler  Makers,  the  Machinists, 
the  Plumbers,  the  Steam  Fitters,  the  Stone  Cutters,  the  Teamsters, 
and  the  Tile  Layers.  The  Boiler  Makers,  however,  in  1900  repealed 
the  rule  requiring  a  striker  to  be  a  member  six  months  before  receiving 
strike  benefits  as  being  both  unjust  and  unfair.  All  general  dues  must, 
however,  be  paid  (Proceedings,  1900,  p.  255). 


44l]  STRIKE   BENEFITS  IO3 

and  a  general  officer  wrote  in  1903  that  the  central  office 
was  the  guide  as  to  strike  pay,  "as  there  would  be  no  end 
of  trouble  if  we  could  interpret  it  any  other  way."^° 

Benefits  are  usually  paid  only  to  those  who  have  been 
working  when  the  strike  is  declared.  In  some  unions  the 
strike  must  be  a  general  one.  The  Bricklayers  and  Masons''^ 
provided  in  1903  that  no  benefits  should  be  paid  unless 
seventy-five  per  cent  or  more  of  the  membership  of  a  local 
union  were  engaged  in  a  regularly  approved  strike. 

The  amount  of  the  strike  benefit  paid  varies: 

Number  of 
Amount  of  benefit  Unions  paying 

$14.00  per  week I 


10.00 
8.00 
7.00 
6.00 
5.00 
4-50 
4.00 
3.00 


3 
2 

15 

13 

22 

I 

I 

4 


The  principal  railroad  brotherhoods  pay  monthly  strike 
benefits,  as  follows:  Locomotive  Engineers  and  Locomotive 
Firemen  $40,  Conductors  $50,  and  Trainmen  $35. 

Several  do  not  pay  a  flat  rate,  but  have  established  a 
maximum  of  $5  or  $6  per  week,  the  amount  being  deter- 
mined by  the  general  executive  board  according  to  the 
circumstances  and  the  condition  of  the  treasury.  Some 
unions,  such  as  the  Carpenters,  the  Electrical  Workers, 
the  Glove  Workers,  the  Hotel  and  Restaurant  Workers, 
and  the  Sheet  Metal  Workers,  do  not  pay  a  fixed  weekly 
benefit,  but  send  at  intervals  to  the  local  union  on  strike 
lump  sums  to  be  divided  among  the  strikers.  A  refer- 
endum vote  in  the  Hotel  and  Restaurant  Workers  in  1905 
declared    against    a    fixed    strike    benefit.'^^    The    general 

^0  Constitution,  1900,  art.  vii,  sec.  12;  Stone  Cutters'  Journal,  May, 
1903,  p.  2. 

"Proceedings,  1903,  pp.  115,  116.  The  executive  board  refused  to 
grant  forty-four  appeals  for  financial  assistance  from  1908  to  1910, 
because  the  facts  set  forth  in  the  appeals  did  not  make  it  clear  that  aid 
from  the  general  office  was  necessary  (Proceedings,  1910,  p.  241). 

"  Mixer  and  Server,  September  15,  1905,  p.  9. 


104    CONTROL  OF  STRIKES  IN  AMERICAN  TRADE  UNIONS   [442 

secretary  of  the  Painters,  in  discussing  the  subject,  doubted 
the  wisdom  of  a  fixed  benefit  in  his  union  because  of  its 
cost.^^  The  Tile  Layers,  partly  on  account  of  lack  of 
funds,  partly  because  they  believed  "that  all  just  demands 
can  be  enforced  without  the  necessity  of  striking  when 
properly  handled,"  eliminated  in  1903  the  provision  for  a 
definite  benefit,  and  provided  for  financial  assistance  by 
unanimous  vote  of  the  general  executive  board.  The 
general  council  of  the  Amalgamated  Woodworkers  reported 
in  1904  that  although  $5  per  week  was  the  benefit  established 
by  law,  special  circumstances  compelled  them  to  donate 
only  that  amount  which  the  condition  of  the  general 
treasury  would  permit. ^^  Other  variations  from  a  fixed 
rate  are  found  in  the  Retail  Clerks,  who  pay  in  proportion 
to  the  wages  received,  and  in  the  Horseshoers,  where  the 
amount,  although  paid  by  the  national  union,  is  fixed  by 
the  local  union  at  the  rate  established  by  the  local  union 
before  going  out  on  strike. 

As  will  be  seen  from  the  table  on  page  103,  the  amount 
paid  in  some  fifty  unions  is  from  $5  to  $7  a  week.  Fifty- 
two  unions  pay  the  same  rate  to  both  married  and  single 
men,  but  twenty  pay  $2  a  week  more  to  married  men  than 
they  do  to  single  men.  In  some  cases  $1  a  week  is  paid  for 
the  wife  and  50  cents  a  week  for  each  non-sustaining  child. 
Naturally  a  man  with  a  family  needs  a  larger  benefit,  and 
such  preferential  treatment  was  accorded  by  the  Phila- 
delphia Cordwainers  in  1806^^  and  the  Knights  of  St. 
Crispin  in  1870.^^  An  occasional  dissenting  voice,  how- 
ever, is  raised  against  such  preference:  "Married  men 
and  single  men  should  be  paid  alike.  A  man's  fortune  or 
misfortune  of  having  a  wife  or  not  having  one  should  not 
be  considered.""  Women,  on  the  other  hand,  together 
with  apprentices,  are  paid  about  half  the  sum  paid  men  in 
the  Bookbinders,  the  Travelers'  Goods  and  Leather  Novelty 

"  Painter  and  Decorator,  December,  1909,  p.  756. 

''*  Proceedings,  1904,  p.  16. 

"  Commons  and  Gilmore,  vol.  iii,  p.  83. 

^^  Lescohier,  p.  67. 

"Stone  Cutters'  Journal,  February,  1900,  p.  11. 


443]  STRIKE   BENEFITS  IO5 

Workers,  the  Paper  Makers,  the  Machinists,  and  the 
Photo-Engravers. 

Additions  to  the  stated  benefits  are  made  at  times. 
The  Brewery  Workers  in  1905  paid  an  additional  $2  a  week 
to  striking  members  in  the  West  because  it  was  "impossible 
for  any  man  to  exist  on  $5.  per  week  on  the  Pacific  Coast. "^^ 
Local  unions,  also,  when  able,  pay  benefits  in  addition  to 
those  of  the  national  union.  The  Flint  Glass  Workers 
allow  striking  members  working  outside  of  the  trade  to 
bring  their  earnings  up  to  $15  per  week,  including  strike 
benefits.  On  the  other  hand,  the  usual  custom  is  to  deduct 
from  the  strike  pay  all  dues  that  may  be  in  arrears. 

Although  some  unions  pay  their  striking  members  bene- 
fits from  the  beginning  of  the  strike  or  from  the  time  of 
sanction  by  the  national  officers,  the  rule  in  twenty-five 
unions  is  to  throw  the  local  union  upon  its  own  resources 
for  the  first  week,  while  some  twelve  unions  pay  nothing 
for  the  first  two  weeks.  In  a  few  others  the  time  is  ex- 
tended to  three  weeks  or  four  weeks  or  thirty  days.  But 
discretion  is  used  at  times  in  regard  to  the  time  of  beginning 
benefits  and,  as  expressed  by  Secretary  Kempner  of  the 
Brewery  Workmen,  "common  sense"  is  used  and  regard 
is  had  for  the  condition  of  members.  The  Brotherhood  of 
Railroad  Trainmen  during  a  strike  in  1907  paid  for  the  first 
two  weeks  "on  account  of  the  financial  condition  of  the 
men  and  as  a  matter  of  good  policy. "^^ 

The  amount  of  benefits  is  changed  in  some  unions,  as 
the  Cigar  Makers,  the  Piano  Workers,  the  Plumbers,  and 
the  Travelers'  Goods  and  Leather  Novelty  Workers,  after  a 
certain  time,  varying  from  eight  to  sixteen  weeks,  has 
elapsed.  A  reduction  of  two  dollars  a  week  or  more  is 
then  made,  the  reduced  benefit  being  paid  until  the  end  of 
the  strike.^"  The  larger  number  of  unions,  however,  con- 
tinue to  pay  the  same  original  benefit  until  the  strike  is 
either  won  or  declared  off,  or  for  a  certain  definite  period 

"  Proceedings,  1906,  pp.  100-104. 
^'  Proceedings,  1909,  p.  3. 

80  This  provision  was  adopted  first  by  the  Cigar  Makers  and  has 
been  frequently  copied  (Constitution,  1886,  art.  vi,  sec.  i). 


I06    CONTROL  OF  STRIKES  IN  AMERICAN  TRADE  UNIONS   [444 

which  may  be  extended,  or  during  the  discretion  of  the 
general  officers.  The  setting  of  a  time  Umit  is  based  not 
only  on  the  idea  of  conserving  the  resources  of  the  national 
union,  but  also  on  the  belief  that  most  strikes  are  won  or 
lost  within  a  few  weeks.  The  tendency,  however,  is  to 
allow  the  national  officers  freedom  to  act  according  to  the 
conditions  surrounding  a  paiticular  strike.  By  withdraw- 
ing strike  benefits  the  national  officers  virtually  end  a 
strike.^^ 

The  value  of  a  time  limit  is  seen  in  the  experience  of  the 
Flint  Glass  Workers,  who  reported  in  1892  that  some 
strikers  had  been  carried  on  the  benefit  rolls  for  nearly 
four  years.  In  1897,  on  account  of  the  industrial  depression 
and  numerous  strikes,  all  men  carried  on  strike  benefits  for 
more  than  a  year  were  cut  off,  and  in  191 1  a  resolution  was 
passed  that  "in  no  case  shall  they  be  carried  on  the  relief 
roll  longer  than  one  year  unless  by  a  vote  of  the  trade. "^^ 
The  Bricklayers  and  Masons  also  financed  a  struggle  for 
the  nine-hour  day  by  two  local  unions  in  North  Carolina  in 
1904-1905  for  eighty-seven  weeks  at  a  cost  of  $19,464.60 
for  benefits.^''  The  convention  of  the  national  union  has 
voted  in  some  cases  to  extend  the  time,  and  the  officers  in 
the  exercise  of  their  discretion  usually  have  power  to  pro- 
long the  payment  of  benefits. 

Even  when  a  strike  is  won  or  called  off,  benefits  are 
usually  paid  to  some  members  until  they  find  work,  and 
more  especially  to  members  of  advanced  age  who  are 
unable  to  find  employment  at  the  trade  after  the  termina- 

"  The  general  executive  board  of  the  Amalgamated  Association  of 
Street  and  Electric  Railway  Employees  in  191 1,  after  benefits  for 
strike  had  been  paid  for  twenty-five  weeks,  believed  it  was  time  to 
bring  the  strike  to  a  close  and  so  declared  the  strike  oflf.  But  finally 
they  allowed  the  strike  to  go  on  with  national  benefits  and  permitted 
an  appeal  for  aid  to  be  sent  out  (Proceedings,  1911,  p.  27). 

^^  Proceedings,  1897,  p.  17;  1911,  p.  181. 

^  Fortieth  Annual  Report  of  President  and  Secretary,  1905,  p.  396. 
"These  brothers  down  in  Durham,"  said  a  commentator,  "are  too 
dependent,  and  show  no  spirit  of  self-reliance,  which  is  a  very  bad 
feature,  and  tends  to  promote  a  feeling  in  neighboring  towns  to  look 
for  financial  aid"  (Forty-first  Annual  Report  of  President  and  Secre- 
tary, 1906,  p.  62). 


445]  STRIKE   BENEFITS  I07 

tion  of  the  strike.^^  In  1910  the  Machinists  continued  the 
benefits  to  twelve  members  over  sixty  years  of  age  for  one 
hundred  and  thirty  weeks,  each  receiving  aggregate  bene- 
fits of  $1009.^^  The  Locomotive  Engineers  in  1904  had 
twenty-two  still  on  the  benefit  roll  from  the  Burlington 
strike  of  1888,  and  in  191 1  there  were  sixteen  still  left. 
The  benefits  are  $25  per  month,  and  have  been  continued 
in  some  instances  to  widows  of  deceased  strikers.  From 
two  other  strikes  there  were  left  in  1904  twelve  and  chree 
pensioners,  respectively.^^ 

In  order  to  systematize  payment  and  to  guard  against 
fraud  many  unions  provide  blank  strike  pay  rolls  for  the 
strike  officials  and  members  to  fill  out  and  return  to  head- 
quarters at  stated  periods.  The  Bricklayers  and  Masons 
at  the  request  of  their  secretary  provided  such  a  form  as 
early  as  1869,  and  this  form  has  been  copied  by  other  unions. 
Such  pay  rolls  were  to  be  made  out  in  triplicate  for  the 
secretary  of  the  national  union,  the  secretary  of  the  sub- 
ordinate union,  and  the  paymaster  making  payments. 
A  local  union  receiving  permission  to  strike  was  directed 
to  elect  a  receiver,  a  clerk,  and  a  paymaster.  The  duty  of 
the  clerk  was  to  make  a  monthly  statement  and  at  the  end 
of  the  strike  a  complete  account  for  the  secretary  of  the 
national  union  and  for  publication.^^  The  form  used  today 
in  some  twenty  typical  unions  varies  but  little.  The  signa- 
ture of  the  striker,  the  number  of  his  union  card,  the  time 
and  amount  of  benefits,  countersigned  by  two  officials  on 
the  ground,  are  usually  required.  The  Iron  Molders  pro- 
vide for  attestation  by  the  paymaster  and  the  clerk,  the 
Bricklayers  and  Masons  by  the  local  financial  secretary  and 
the  special  deputy  paymaster;  but  the  Carpenters  and 
Joiners  require  only  the  signature  of  the  chairman  of  the 
strike  committee.     A  customary  usage  is  to  print  the  rules 

"  The  Metal  Polishers  extended  benefits  thus  by  vote  of  the  execu- 
tive board  for  two  members  (Our  Journal  [Metal  Polishers],  January, 
191 1,  p.  24).     See  also  Boot  and  Shoe  Workers'  Journal,  1895,  p.  43. 

^  Machinists'  Monthly  Journal,  February,  1910,  p.  153. 

^'  Proceedings,  1904,  p.  7. 

"  Proceedings,  1869,  pp.  45,  109. 


I08    CONTROL  OF  STRIKES  IN  AMERICAN  TRADE  UNIONS    [446 

governing  the  payment  of  strike  benefits  on  the  pay  roll 
for  the  guidance  of  the  disbursing  officials. ^^  Either  the 
representative  of  the  national  union  or  an  official  designated 
by  the  district  committee  or  by  the  local  committee  ordi- 
narily acts  as  a  disburser  of  the  fund.  Officers  receiving 
and  paying  strike  benefits  are  sometimes  required  to  give 
a  bonded  security.  Should  any  intimation  of  fraud  be 
made,  benefits  are  usually  suspended  pending  an  investi- 
gation. Receipts  are  taken  for  all  benefits  paid,  and  the 
return  to  the  general  officers  of  strike  rolls  properly  filled 
out,  usually  every  week,  is  insisted  upon  as  the  condition 
for  further  strike  pay. 

Another  form  of  benefit  is  that  paid  for  "victimization," 
that  is,  for  cases  in  which  a  member  is  discharged  because 
of  serving  on  a  grievance  committee  or  being  active  in  any 
way  in  trade-union  matters.  The  Granite  Cutters  in  1877 
provided  that  such  members  should  receive  full  compensa- 
tion for  their  loss  and  be  aided  in  seeking  work;  but  when 
work  was  found,  whether  accepted  or  not,  benefits  should 
cease.^^  Some  unions  provide  that  "victimization"  cases 
shall  be  governed  by  the  same  rules  as  apply  to  strikes  and 

^8  The  Iron  Molders  have  these  rules: 

"Decision  17.  No  person  can  be  put  on  strike  pay-roll  who  was 
not  at  work  in  the  shop  when  the  strike  took  effect. 

"Decision  18.  A  member  on  pay-roll  securing  work  must  be  taken 
off  the  rolls. 

"Decision  19.  A  member  on  strike  who  has  been  taken  off  the  pay- 
roll on  account  of  securing  work  can  only  be  placed  on  the  rolls  again, 
if,  after  investigation  by  the  President  of  the  I.  M.  U.  of  N.  A.  or  his 
deputy,  it  is  found  to  be  for  the  best  interest  of  the  I.  M.  U.  of  N.  A. 

"Decision  20.  A  member  on  strike  drawing  a  card  for  the  purpose 
of  looking  for  work,  and  failing  to  find  same,  may  be  placed  on  the  rolls 
again  from  the  date  of  his  return,  but  in  so  doing  the  case  must  be  so 
explained  when  sending  pay-roll  to  the  Secretary. 

"Rule  8.  The  Paymaster  and  clerk  must  send  to  the  Secretary  of 
the  I.  M.  U.  of  N.  A.  on  each  pay-roll,  their  affidavit  that  every  name 
on  said  pay-roll  is  entitled  to  benefits  according  to  our  laws,  and  that 
they  are  actively  engaged  in  said  strike  or  lockout,  and  are  not  em- 
ployed at  some  other  occupation. 

"Rule  9.  In  the  event  of  its  being  discovered  that  any  local  dis- 
bursing officers  are  found  guilty  of  falsifying  the  pay-rolls,  it  shall  be 
mandatory  for  the  President  of  the  I.  M.  U.  of  N.  A.  to  prosecute 
them." 

^'  Constitution,  1877,  art.  xv. 


447]  STRIKE   BENEFITS  IO9 

that  regular  strike  benefits  shall  be  paid.^°  In  other  unions 
aid  varies  from  temporary  assistance  to  a  definite  sum  for  a 
short  period. ^^ 

Lockouts,  when  sanctioned  by  the  national  ofiicers,  are 
considered  strikes  and  regular  strike  benefits  are  paid.  A 
lockout,  however,  may  be  brought  on  by  the  arbitrary 
conduct  of  the  union,  and  the  national  ofiicers  may  have 
power  to  refuse  benefits  if  the  union  has  been  in  fault. 
Lockouts,  like  strikes,  are  investigated  by  the  national 
officers,  and  the  same  rules  are  followed.  "An  'iron  clad' 
notice  shall  not  constitute  a  lockout.  Should  any  employer 
be  unscrupulous  enough  to  require  employees  to  sign 
individual  contracts,  under  threat  of  lockout,  members  are 
directed  to  sign  them  and  report  the  same  to  their  Local 
Executive  Board.  The  Local  Executive  Board  shall  report 
the  same  to  the  General  Executive  Board  as  in  strikes. "^^ 

As  a  method  of  relieving  the  strain  on  the  defense  fund, 
several  unions,  such  as  the  Bakers,  the  Barbers,  the  Book- 
binders, the  Brewery  Workmen,  the  Broom  Makers,  the 
Flint  Glass  Workers,  the  Machine  Printers,  the  Photo- 
Engravers,  the  Plate  Printers,  the  Operative  Potters,  the 
Stogie  Makers,  the  Teamsters,  and  the  Wood  Carvers, 
explicitly  provide  that  any  member  refusing  work  when  it 
is  ofi'ered  during  a  strike  shall  be  cut  off  from  strike  bene- 
fits. The  general  executive  board  of  the  Flint  Glass 
Workers,  for  instance,  after  the  adoption  of  a  sliding  scale 
in  1905  in  the  chimney  department,  which  was  accompanied 
by  a  revival  of  trade  and  work,  forced  the  off-hand  gatherers 
who  had  been  on  strike  to  go  to  work  as  chimney  gatherers 
or  be  cut  off  the  relief  roll.  Some  forty-five  members  of 
two  local  unions  were  struck  off  the  relief  roll  on  account  of 
their  refusal  to  accept  work.^^     The  Barbers  in  1911  thus 

90  The  Boiler  Makers,  the  Broom  and  Whisk  Makers,  the  Iron 
Molders,  the  Machinists,  the  Pattern  Makers,  the  Stogie  Makers,  and 
the  Travellers'  Goods  and  Leather  Novelty  Workers  follow  this  rule. 

»i  Proceedings,  Boot  and  Shoe  Workers,  1899,  p.  37;  Cap  Makers, 
Constitution  [n.  d.],  art.  x,  sec.  14;  Tin  Plate  Workers,  Constitution, 
1908,  art.  ix,  sec.  i. 

92  Proceedings,  Boot  and  Shoe  Workers,  1899,  p.  37. 

93  Proceedings,  1906,  p.  32. 


no    CONTROL  OF  STRIKES  IN  AMERICAN  TRADE  UNIONS    [448 

withdrew  aid  from  members  who  refused  work  in  a  union 
shop  at  the  minimum  wage  scale.  Strikers  who  have  part- 
time  work  are  in  some  unions  debarred  from  benefits.  The 
Carriage  and  Wagon  Workers,  the  Stove  Mounters,  and 
the  Teamsters  count  three  days'  work  as  a  week,  while 
the  Photo-Engravers  and  the  Plate  Printers  regard  four 
days  as  a  week  and  deduct  a  week's  benefit.  For  less  than 
four  days  one  fourth  is  deducted  by  the  Photo-Engravers 
from  the  week's  benefit  for  each  day  of  work.  The  Bakery 
and  Confectionery  Workers  allow  a  member  to  do  jobbing 
for  a  week  without  loss  of  benefits. ^^ 

After  a  member  has  obtained  work  he  cannot  receive 
strike  benefits  again.  In  some  unions  a  time  limit  of  two 
to  four  weeks  of  continuous  employment  is  set,  after  which 
the  striker's  name  cannot  be  put  back  on  the  strike  roll. 
In  other  unions  a  striker  may  be  granted  benefits  again 
after  securing  work  and  being  laid  off,  provided  it  be  within 
the  time  limit  for  the  payment  of  benefits.  The  Stove 
Mounters  passed  such  a  rule  in  1908  because  otherwise  a 
member  on  strike  would  be  discouraged  from  accepting 
employment  unless  certain  as  to  the  permanency  of  the 
work.^^ 

In  addition  to  strike  benefits  or  in  lieu  of  them  a  local 
union  may  receive  donations  from  other  local  unions. 
Appeals  for  assistance  must,  however,  be  sanctioned  by  the 
national  officers,  according  to  the  specific  rules  of  some 
twenty-five  unions.  President  Fox  of  the  Iron  Molders 
protested  in  1902  that  all  such  circulars  should  be  sub- 
mitted to  the  president  before  being  sent  out.  To  make 
control  of  the  local  union  more  certain  all  funds  donated, 
according  to  the  rules  of  some  unions,  must  be  sent  to 
headquarters  and  from  there  to  the  local  union  in  need. 

^* Strike  Instructions:  "If  a  striker  secures  a  steady  position  and 
leaves  said  position  after  one  week,  all  strike  benefit  will  cease.  When- 
ever a  striker  refuses  to  accept  a  steady  position,  strike  benefit  also 
ceases.  Jobbing  a  week  is  not  considered  as  a  steady  position.  The 
strike  benefit  official  must  report  every  week  to  the  International 
Treasurer  whenever  a  member  goes  to  work,  whether  he  is  jobbing 
or  has  steady  work"  (Bakers'  Journal,  May  13,  191 1,  p.  3). 

8^  Proceedings,  1908,  pp.  15,  37. 


449]  STRIKE   BENEFITS  III 

But  even  when  there  is  no  specific  rule,  voluntary  donations 
are  usually  handled  by  the  general  treasurer  and  acknow- 
ledged in  the  union's  journal.  Such  central  control  puts 
the  money  in  charge  of  one  person  instead  of  several,  and 
makes  possible  the  immediate  withdrawal  of  the  appeal 
when  enough  has  been  received  or  the  strike  ended. 

An  appeal  may  be  allowed  when  the  limit  of  benefits 
from  the  national  union  has  been  reached,  or  in  case  the 
national  union  pays  only  a  small  benefit  or  no  benefits  at 
all,  or  for  disputes  which  are  not  sanctioned  as  complying 
sufficiently  with  the  strike  rules  to  be  supported  by  regular 
strike  benefits  but  which  nevertheless  deserve  some  support, 
or  when  the  treasury  of  the  national  union  is  low.  The 
executive  board  of  the  Bricklayers  and  Masons,  for  ex- 
ample, in  1904  gave  permission  to  solicit  donations  to  a 
local  union  out  on  an  unsanctioned  strike  as  a  protest 
against  the  "open  shop  policy"  and  the  "relentless  and 
unscrupulous  attitude  of  the  employers. "^^  In  1909  three 
circulars  were  issued  by  the  general  officers  of  the  Brick, 
Tile  and  Terra  Cotta  Workers'  Alliance  requesting  help  for 
one  of  their  local  unions  similarly  situated.  The  Rubber 
Workers  permit  voluntary  donations  to  be  given  a  local 
union  out  on  strike  before  it  has  been  affiliated  for  the 
three  months  required  for  the  receipt  of  strike  benefits. ^^ 

Strike  benefits  paid  over  a  series  of  years  amount  in  some 
unions  to  very  large  sums.  The  Flint  Glass  Workers  re- 
ported in  1898  that  $1,768,641.93  had  been  thus  paid  out 
since  their  organization  in  1878.  The  Burlington  strike 
of  1888,  with  a  few  pensioners  still  on  the  roll,  has  cost  the 
Locomotive  Engineers  over  a  million  dollars  ($1,008,153.17). 
The  Machinists  from  1891  to  1910  have  paid  some 
$2,023,231.19;  and  in  addition  to  this,  district  lodges  have 
paid  benefits  in  large  sums  to  those  not  included  in  the 
membership  or  to  members  not  in  good  standing  with  the 
grand   lodge.     The   Iron   Molders  have   always   been   an 

^®  Thirty-ninth  Annual  Report  of  the  President  and  Secretary,  1904, 

p.  474- 

"  Constitution,  1910,  art.  xiii,  sec.  4;  1903,  art.  x,  sec.  i. 


112     CONTROL  OF  STRIKES  IN  AMERICAN  TRADE  UNIONS   [45O 

aggressive  and  militant  organization,  and  during  the  period 
from  i860  to  1875  spent  the  following  amounts: 

i860 $  5.511-60 

1861 1,115.00 

1863 ; 10,329.89 

1864 3,000.00 

1865 3.300.00 

1866 25,000.00 

1867-68 9,500.00 

1868-9-70 5.350-00 

1870-1-2 , 32,209.78 

1872-3-4 20,788.82 

1874-5 8,622.46 

or  nearly  $125,000,  during  the  fifteen  years. ^^  After  1884 
the  benefits  gradually  increased  in  amount,  as  is  shown  in 
the  following  table: 

Average 
Period        Length  of  Period  Cost  Yeariy  Cost 

1884-86  2  years  $      28,800.40  $  14,400.20 

1886-88  2  years  33.883.54  16,941.77 

1888-90  2  years  67,964.32  33,982.16 

1890-95  5  years  209,907.52  41,981.10 

1895-99  4  years  175,870.20  43.967-55 

1899-02  3  years  327,961.68  109,320.56 

1902-07  5  years  1,477,009.46  295,401.89 

1907-11  4  years  1,009,322.15  252,330.54 

The  total  cost  for  the  twenty-seven  years  since  1884  has 
been  $3,338,202.76.  The  increased  expenditures,  especially 
since  1890,  are  attributable  to  actual  payments  of  strike 
benefits  (for  previously  benefits  had  frequently  been  un- 
paid), the  centralization  of  control  which  has  thrown  the 
entire  cost  on  the  national  union,  and  the  growing  opposi- 
tion of  manufacturers  to  unionism  in  general  and  the  Iron 
Holders  in  particular.  The  opposition  of  the  National 
Founders'  Association  in  1900  and  in  1904  increased  greatly 
the  cost  of  strikes. 

The  United  Mine  Workers  report  the  following  strike 

benefits  as  paid  from  1900  to  1910: 

1900 $   144,462.50 

1901 202,202.71 

1902 1,834,506.53 

'^  Counting  the  average  membership  at  five  thousand  per  year,  says 
one  commentator,  "the  strikes  cost  less  than  two  dollars  per  year" 
(Iron  Molders'  Journal,  September  10,  1875,  p.  424). 


45 1 1  STRIKE   BENEFITS  II3 

1903 301,922.44 

1904 1.065,435.47 

1905 753,626.02 

1906 805,599.92 

1907 105,045.57 

1908 744,897.19 

1909 600,267.39 

1910 1,532,020.42 


5,089,986.16 


Most  of  the  money  is  said  to  have  been  spent  in  localities 
where  there  was  the  least  organization.  Strikes  as  a  means 
of  organization  are  declared  to  be  too  expensive.  "The 
enormous  waste  of  money,"  said  President  Lewis,  "and 
the  tremendous  waste  of  energy  incident  to  a  strike  should 
be  avoided.  Our  right  to  strike  must  never  be  surrendered, 
but  as  the  strike  is  an  industrial  war  measure  it  should  be 
the  last  method  resorted  to  in  our  effort  to  enforce  any 
demands  that  we  present  to  the  mine  owners."®^ 

The  Bakery  and  Confectionery  Workers  have  had  num- 
erous small  strikes,  and  make  the  following  report  of  bene- 
fits paid  since  the  inauguration  of  the  strike  fund  in  1904:^°" 

Oct.  I,  1904,  to  Oct.  I,  1905,  I  year $  14.355-30 

"  I,  1905,  "  Sept.  I,  1906,  II  months 26,175.50 

Sept.  I,  1906,  "      "  I,  1907,  I  year 10,974.00 

"  1,1907,"      "  I,  1908,  I  year 7,895.00 

"  1,1908,"      "  I,  1909,  I  year i4.553-oo 

"  1,1909,"      "  I,  1910,  I  year 66,845.00 

"  I,  1910,  "  Jan.  I,  1911,  4  months 1.053.00 

Total  Benefits  Paid $141,850.80 

The  expenditures  of  the  Coopers  for  strike  benefits  from 
1900  to  1 910  were  as  follows: 

Average 
Yearly  Cost 

$2,396.55 
4,243.78 
6,615.02 
1,686.50 
2,275.25 

The  higher  cost  in  1904-06  was  not  due  to  an  increase 
in  the  number  of  strikes  or  strikers,  but  because  strikes  were 

83  Proceedings,  191 1,  p.  50. 
"°  Bakers'  Journal,  January  14,  191 1,  p.  66. 
8 


Period 

Length  of  Period 

Cost 

1900-02 

2  years 

$  4.793.10 

1902-04 

2  years 

8,487-57 

1904-06 

2  years 

13.230.05 

1906-08 

2  years 

3.373.10 

1908-10 

2  years 

4.550.50 

114    CONTROL  OF  STRIKES  IN  AMERICAN  TRADE  UNIONS   [452 

better  financed  than  before.  The  next  four  years  show  the 
result  of  larger  control  of  strikes  by  the  general  executive 
board.ioi 

The  Cigar  Makers  have  paid  out  the  following  sums  since 
the  inauguration  of  a  strike  fund  in  1879: 


Year 

Strike  Benefit 

Cost  per  member  j 

*I879 

$     3,660.23 

$  I.34V10 

1880 

4.950.36 

l.llVio 

ti88l 

21,797.68 

I.49V10 

{1882 

44,850.41 

3-92V10 

1883 

27,812.13 

2.IOV10 

1884 

143-547-36 

12.62V10 

1885 

61,087.28 

5-09 

1886 

54,402.61 

2.20 

1887 

13,871.62 

6.74 

1888 

45-303-62 

2.66V10 

1889 

5,202.52 

.29V10 

§1890 

18,414.27 

.74V10 

1891 

33,531-78 

I-38V10 

1892 

37,477-60 

I.40V10 

1893 

18,228.15 

.68 

1894 

44,966.76 

l.6i7io 

1895 

44,039.06 

i.58Vio 

1896 

27,446.46 

l.ooVio 

II1897 

12,175.09 

.46 

1898 

25,118.59 

-947io 

1899 

12,331-63 

.42 

1900 

137,823.23 

3-98V10 

1901 

105,215.71 

3.02 

1902 

85,274.14 

2.237,0 

1903 

20,858.15 

•SiVio 

1904 

32,888.88 

.76V10 

1905 

9,820.83 

.23V10 

1906 

44,735-43 

I.ioVio 

1907 

22,644.68 

-52V10 

1908 

32,423.39 

.77V10 

1909 

19,999-58 

•43V10 

1910 

221,044.70 

4-9oVio 

*  Weekly  dues  10  cents,  t  15  cents,  t  20  cents,  §  25  cents,  ^  30  cents. 

The  total  cost  of  strikes  from  1879  to  1910  was  $1,432,- 
95 1 -93  •^"'^    The  largest  cost  per  member  occurred  in  1884 

"1  Coopers'  International  Journal,  October,  1910,  p.  561:  November, 
1906,  p.  10. 

"'  Cigar  Makers'  Official  Journal,  April  15,  1911,  p.  n. 


453]  STRIKE   BENEFITS  II5 

on  account  of  a  disastrous  strike  in  Cincinnati  entered  into 
against  the  protests  of  the  general  officers,  and  amounted 
to  $I2.62yV.  The  strike  committee  reported  at  the  1885 
convention  against  such  large  expenditures,  and  said: 
"It  is  neither  wise  nor  practical  to  at  all  times  strike, 
even  against  a  reduction  in  wages."  The  rules  in  regard 
to  strikes  were  at  that  time  revised  and  made  more 
rigid.103 

1°^  Proceedings,  1885,  p.  23. 


CHAPTER   VIII 

The  Termination  of  Strikes 

The  development  of  the  power  to  end  a  strike  has  been 
much  the  same  as  that  of  the  power  to  initiate  a  strike. 
From  the  nature  of  the  case,  however,  the  rules  are  less 
rigidly  enforced,  especially  if  a  favorable  settlement  can 
be  made. 

Many  strikes  have  no  official  end  because  the  men  gradu- 
ally get  work  elsewhere.  A  strike  of  the  Horseshoers  in 
New  York  City,  for  instance,  was  declared  eight  years  ago 
and  has  never  been  called  off.  Such  a  strike,  of  course, 
has  no  real  existence.  A  strike  may  be  ended  (i)  by  a  vote 
of  the  local  union  or  local  unions  involved,  (2)  by  action 
of  the  representative  or  agent  of  the  general  union,  (3)  by 
the  general  executive  board  of  the  national  union,  (4)  by  a 
general  vote,  or  (5)  by  a  convention  of  the  national  union. 

(i)  The  vote  by  the  local  union  or  local  unions  is  found 
in  those  trades  where  the  local  union  has  the  right  to 
strike  on  its  own  initiative.  In  those  unions  where  there 
is  a  large  measure  of  control  by  the  national  officers,  the 
vote  of  the  local  union  becomes  efifective  only  with  the 
consent  of  the  national  officers.  The  usual  rule  is  that  a 
regular  or  special  meeting  of  the  local  union  must  be  held 
and  the  terms  of  settlement  submitted  to  a  vote.  Some 
national  unions  require  the  same  vote  for  concluding  as 
for  initiating  a  strike;  others  require  only  a  majority  vote. 
The  vote  of  a  local  union  in  favor  of  ending  a  strike  is  not 
always  sanctioned  by  the  national  officers.  In  1908  the 
officers  of  the  Stove  Mounters  declared  in  regard  to  a  strike 
called  off  by  one  of  their  local  unions:  "The  International 
Executive  Board  has  never  sanctioned  the  calling  off  of 
this  strike,  because  the  Mounters  who  secured  employ- 

116 


455]  THE   TERMINATION   OF   STRIKES  II7 

ment  were  forced  to  sign  an  individual  contract  and  work 
with  helpers."^ 

(2)  The  representative  or  agent  of  the  national  union, 
as  has  been  noted,  is  sent  to  the  scene  of  the  trouble  as 
soon  as  a  dispute  arises,  and  he  usually  remains  until  the 
strike  has  been  settled.  The  power  of  the  general  agent 
in  the  termination  of  strikes  appears  to  have  grown  out  of 
the  practice  of  local  unions  in  sending  for  their  general 
president  when  in  trouble.  Grand  Chief  Arthur  of  the 
Locomotive  Engineers  brought  about  a  settlement  of  several 
strikes  by  personal  efforts  and  conferences  with  railroad 
officials,  and  today,  although  the  matter  is  usually  put  to 
a  vote,  the  general  officers  of  this  brotherhood  may  termi- 
nate a  strike.^  The  same  is  true  of  the  grand  master  of  the 
Locomotive  Firemen,  with  the  consent  of  a  majority  of  the 
members  of  the  executive  board  .^  The  president  of  the 
Conductors,  together  with  the  general  committee  of  adjust- 
ment, has  similar  powers."*  President  W.  J.  Smith  of  the 
Flint  Glass  Workers  in  1887  in  conjunction  with  a  com- 
mittee of  the  local  union  brought  to  an  end  a  strike  that  had 
been  going  on  for  a  year.^  The  presidents  of  the  Boiler 
Makers,  the  Stone  Cutters,  and  other  unions  intervene  in 
like  manner  when  the  necessity  arises. 

On  account  of  a  disastrous  strike  in  1 884-1 885,  the  Cigar 
Makers  adopted  the  device  of  arbitration  and  the  sending 
of  agents  to  the  scene  of  any  strike.  In  1906  the  national 
union  sent  two  representatives  to  adjust  a  dispute.  The 
local  union  did  not  desire  the  presence  of  these  two  officials, 
Ex- President  Strasser  and  W.  S.  Best,  who  finally  reached 
an  agreement  with  the  manufacturers  and  brought  the 
strike  to  an  end.  The  local  union  had  the  right  to  an  appeal 
to  a  general  vote  against  the  action  of  the  general  repre- 

^  Proceedings,  1908,  p.  8. 

''Locomotive  Engineers'  Monthly  Journal,  May,  1875,  p.  255; 
January,  1877,  p.  29;  February,  1877,  pp.  65-71. 

'  Locomotive  Firemen's  Magazine,  November,  1894,  p.  1079.  This 
in  case  two  thirds  of  the  members  refuse  to  declare  a  strike  off._ 

*  Constitution,  1909,  sec.  74.  A  strike  on  the  Erie  Railroad  in  1891 
was  settled  by  Grand  Chief  Conductor  Clark  and  the  national  officers 
(Railway  Conductor,  February  15,  189 1,  p.  127). 

'  Proceedings,  1887,  p.  29. 


Il8     CONTROL  OF  STRIKES  IN  AMERICAN  TRADE  UNIONS    [456 

sentatives,  but  contented  itself  by  protesting  in  the  columns 
of  the  official  organ.  Agent  Strasser  said:  "The  duty  of 
the  arbitrators  and  agent  is  to  represent  the  interests  of 
the  International  Union,  regardless  of  the  local  instructions 
of  the  strike  committee.  It  is  also  their  duty  to  bring  about 
an  amicable  and  honorable  adjustment  of  the  trouble  as 
speedily  as  possible,  thus  saving  the  funds  of  the  Inter- 
national Union,  which  would  be  otherwise  wasted;  and  to 
maintain  the  honor  and  reputation  of  the  International 
Union  for  fair  dealing  with  union  manufacturers."®  The 
decision  of  the  representatives  of  the  national  union  to 
terminate  a  strike  in  New  Haven  was  approved  by  the 
executive  board  and  then  by  a  general  vote.''  In  1892  the 
executive  board  of  the  Bricklayers  and  Masons  was  author- 
ized to  send  a  deputy  to  the  scene  of  any  strike  to  investi- 
gate and  report  as  to  prospects  of  success,  and  if  these 
reports  were  unfavorable  the  board  was  to  declare  the 
strike  off.^  Such  procedure  is  a  common  practice  in  most 
unions,  and  in  most  cases  the  general  representative  acts 
in  conjunction  with  the  local  officials.  A  common  rule  is 
that  final  settlements  must  be  made  in  the  presence  of  the 
local  committee.^ 

The  duties  of  a  representative  in  the  Stone  Cutters' 
Union  is  defined  thus:  "He  shall  immediately  proceed  to 
the  headquarters  of  said  Branch  where  strike  or  lockout 
exists  and  give  them  assistance  within  his  power  to  settle 
said  strike  or  lockout,  final  decision  to  be  given  by  the 
Executive  Board. "^°  A  good  deal  of  authority  is  given 
to  the  general  representative.  His  decisions  are  binding 
in  some  unions  and  subject  to  approval  of  the  executive 
board  or  a  general  vote  in  others. 

When  a  number  of  national  unions  are  involved  in  a 
strike,  a  settlement  is  usually  brought  about  by  the  officials 

^  Cigar  Makers'  Official  Journal,  September  15,  1906,  p.  3. 

^  Ibid.,  February  15,  1909,  p.  8.  This  same  procedure  is  followed 
by  the  Plumbers  and  the  Tobacco  Workers. 

*  Proceedings,  1892,  p.  96. 

^  Stove  Mounters,  Proceedings,  1901,  p.  12;  Paper  Makers,  Consti- 
tution, 1912,  art.  vi,  sec.  2. 

1"  Proceedings,  1904,  p.  33. 


457]  THE  TERMINATION   OF   STRIKES  II9 

of  the  various  unions.  In  the  settlement  of  a  general 
strike  in  the  shops  of  the  Missouri  Pacific  Railway  system 
in  1 9 10,  terms  of  settlement  were  signed  by  the  national 
officers  of  the  Machinists,  the  Boiler  Makers,  the  Black- 
smiths, and  the  Sheet  Metal  Workers.^^  A  general  strike 
by  the  employees  of  the  International  Paper  Company  in 
1 9 10  was  terminated  by  an  agreement  signed  by  the  officers 
of  the  company  and  by  representatives  of  the  Paper 
Makers,  the  Pulp  Sulphite  and  Paper  Mill  Workers,  the 
Machinists,  the  Steam  Fitters,  the  Steam  Engineers,  the 
Electrical  Workers,  a  general  organizer  of  the  American 
Federation  of  Labor,  and  the  chairman  of  the  Bureau  of 
Mediation  and  Arbitration  of  the  State  of  New  York.^^ 

(3)  The  representative  or  agent  is  usually  sent  by  the 
general  executive  board  of  the  national  union,  and  in  that 
board  the  supreme  executive  authority  of  the  union  is 
vested.  As  previously  stated,  the  board  is  made  up  of  the 
national  officers,  including  the  president,  and,  in  some 
unions,  of  additional  representatives  from  the  general 
membership.  The  tendency  is  toward  a  larger  measure  of 
control  by  this  body  in  termination  of  strikes.  The  Iron 
Molders  saw  the  necessity  of  some  central  control  in 
bringing  unsuccessful  strikes  to  a  close,  and  in  1874  vested 
such  power  in  the  president  and  four  vice-presidents.^^ 
Two  strikes  were  settled  by  these  officers  during  1 874-1 876. 
The  president  in  his  report  in  1876  said  that  "he  had  no 
extraordinary  power  as  he  must  consult  with  and  abide 
by  the  wishes  of  the  four  vice-presidents."  A  provision 
for  two  weeks'  notice  to  the  local  union  on  strike  was  added 
to  the  rules  at  this  convention,  and  in  1878  the  power  was 
transferred  to  the  president  and  the  executive  board .^^ 

In  some  unions  action  to  stop  a  strike  has  been  taken  by 
the  national  officers  on  their  own  responsibility  because  con- 
ditions rendered  it  necessary  to  terminate  the  strike.     For 

"  Machinists'  Monthly  Journal,  February,  191 1,  pp.  113,  160. 
12  Report  of  the  New  York  State  Department  of  Labor,  19 10,  pp. 
474-480. 

^'  Iron  Molders'  Journal,  August,  1874,  p.  4. 
"  Proceedings,  1876,  pp.  7,  82. 


120    CONTROL  OF  STRIKES  IN  AMERICAN  TRADE  UNIONS   [458 

example,  the  officials  of  the  Flint  Glass  Workers  called  off 
a  strike  in  1886  and  declared  strike  benefits  at  an  end. 
The  strikers  protested  against  this  action;  but  similar 
decisions  were  quoted  as  precedents,  and  as  these  pre- 
cedents had  passed  unquestioned  by  any  convention  a 
warrant  for  them  was  thus  given.  The  result  was  that 
authority  to  terminate  strikes  was  given  to  the  executive 
board .^'^  The  Locomotive  Firemen  provide  that  in  case 
two  thirds  of  the  members  on  a  division  or  system  refuse  to 
declare  a  strike  off,  it  can  be  ended  by  the  grand  master 
together  with  a  majority  vote  of  the  general  executive 
board.  In  case  the  president  and  the  general  committee 
of  adjustment  of  the  Conductors  cannot  agree,  the  board 
of  trustees  of  that  union,  after  a  strike  has  been  in  force 
ten  days,  can  decide,  and  their  decision  is  final. ^^  A  num- 
ber of  unions,  Hke  the  Barbers,  the  Boot  and  Shoe  Workers, 
the  Box  Makers,  the  Bricklayers  and  Masons,  the  Bridge 
and  Structural  Iron  Workers,  the  Cutting  Die  and  Cutter 
Makers,  the  Freight  Handlers,  the  Lace  Curtain  Operatives, 
the  Metal  Polishers,  the  Pattern  Makers,  the  Iron,  Tin 
and  Steel  Workers,  the  Retail  Clerks,  the  Stogie  Makers, 
the  Stone  Cutters,  the  Tile  Layers,  the  Tin  Plate  Workers, 
the  Powder  Workers,  and  the  Woodworkers,  give  their 
executive  boards  definite  power  to  end  a  strike.  In  some 
unions  a  strike  by  a  local  union  may  be  appealed  directly 
to  the  national  union  by  the  firm  or  company  against  which 
the  strike  is  called.  In  the  case  of  a  firm  in  Denver  whose 
bricklayers  refused  to  handle  material  made  by  a  certain 
manufacturer,  the  executive  board  of  the  Bricklayers  and 
Masons  ordered  the  strike  off.^^ 

The  real  power  of  the  general  executive  board  is  found 
in  its  control  of  strike  benefits.  If  there  are  no  strike 
benefits,  the  local  union  on  strike  can  accept  or  reject  the 
advice  of  the  executive  board.  The  development  of  this 
control   has   been    traced    in    previous    chapters.     Where 

15  Proceedings,  1887,  pp.  30,  80. 

1^  Locomotive    Firemen's    Magazine,    November,    1894,    p.     1079; 
Proceedings,  1897,  P-  10;  Constitution,  1909,  sec.  74. 
"  Forty-third  Annual  Report,  1908,  p.  26. 


459]  THE   TERMINATION   OF   STRIKES  121 

Strike  benefits  are  paid,  a  strike  may  be  practically  ended 
by  the  withdrawal  of  strike  benefits.  Some  national 
unions,  such  as,  for  example,  the  Amalgamated  Glass 
Workers,  the  Boiler  Makers,  the  Broom  Makers,  the  Cap 
Makers,  the  Carpenters  and  Joiners,  the  International 
Seamen,  the  Iron  Molders,  the  Ladies'  Garment  Workers, 
the  Painters,  the  Teamsters,  the  Tile  Layers,  and  the 
Wood  Carvers,  give  their  presidents  and  general  executive 
boards  discretionary  power  to  declare  a  strike  at  an  end 
so  far  as  financial  aid  from  the  general  union  is  concerned. 
Local  unions  may  continue  the  struggle  on  their  own 
financial  responsibility,  but  such  action  virtually  ends  a 
strike.  In  the  same  way,  in  1911,  the  general  executive 
board  of  the  Coopers  discontinued  paying  benefits  to  a 
local  union,  believing  that  the  general  organization  had 
done  its  duty  to  the  local  union.^^  A  number  of  unions 
also  set  a  definite  time  limit  for  the  payment  of  benefits, 
and  as  a  rule  this  limit,  unless  extended,  automatically 
ends  a  strike. 

(4)  A  general  vote  of  all  local  unions  is  required  in  a 
number  of  general  unions  before  a  strike  can  be  terminated. 
A  general  vote  of  the  division  or  railroad  system  to  which 
the  men  belong  is  taken  in  the  railroad  brotherhoods  like 
the  Locomotive  Engineers,  the  Locomotive  Firemen,  the 
Conductors,  and  the  Trainmen  on  the  acceptance  of  the 
terms  of  settlement.  The  Flint  Glass  Workers,  the  Lake 
Seamen,  the  Operative  Potters,  and  some  other  unions 
require  a  vote  of  all  members  before  a  strike  can  be  termi- 
nated. A  strike  continues  indefinitely  with  the  Flint 
Glass  Workers  until  so  ended,  but  benefits  lapse  at  the  end 
of  a  year  unless  continued  by  a  general  vote.^^  A  special 
convention  may  be  called  to  consider  the  termination  of  a 
strike.  The  Commercial  Telegraphers  in  1907  called  a 
special  convention  which  appointed  a  "Peace  Committee" 
to  adjust  the  strike,  but  finally  the  question  was  submitted 
to  a  vote  of  all  the  local  unions  and  carried.^"     A  very 

^^  Coopers'  International  Journal,  April,  191 1,  p.  239. 

1^  Proceedings,  191 1,  pp.  34,  181. 

20  Commercial  Telegraphers'  Journal,  November,  1907,  pp.  11,  40,  42. 


122     CONTROL  OF  STRIKES  IN  AMERICAN  TRADE  UNIONS   [46O 

common  usage  is  that  of  the  United  Mine  Workers  in  sub- 
mitting terms  of  settlement  to  a  general  vote.  The  Ohio 
local  unions  embracing  District  No.  6  held  a  convention  in 
1895  and  took  up  the  question  of  agreement  with  the 
operators,  and  then  submitted  the  same  to  a  referendum 
vote  of  the  miners  of  Ohio.  The  vote  was  5091  in  favor 
and  4351  against.^^  In  1910  the  demands  of  the  operators 
were  submitted  to  the  members  in  Illinois  by  the  executive 
board  and  refused  by  a  vote  of  45,190  to  1435,  and  the  end 
of  the  strike  came  through  the  operators  acceding  to  the 
demands  of  the  United  Mine  Workers.^^  In  some  unions, 
after  a  strike  has  lasted  a  definite  period,  as  for  twenty 
weeks  with  the  Piano  Workers ,^^  a  referendum  vote  is 
necessary  to  continue  it  longer.  The  decision  of  the  na- 
tional deputy  in  favor  of  terminating  a  strike,  if  not  agree- 
able to  the  local  union,  is  submitted  to  a  general  vote  by 
the  Box  Makers,  the  Cigar  Makers,  the  Plumbers,  and  the 
Tobacco  Workers,  and  if  so  approved,  becomes  binding. 

(5)  The  termination  of  a  strike  by  a  convention  of  the 
national  union  or  of  the  district  unions  occurs  frequently 
because  sovereignty  in  the  national  union  is  usually  found 
in  the  convention.  Some  unions,  however,  submit  all  rules 
or  changes  made  to  a  referendum  vote.  The  convention 
of  the  Iron  Molders,  for  instance,  in  1876  discontinued 
strikes  in  five  places.  After  the  president  and  other 
officers  of  the  Chain  Makers  had  had  many  conferences 
and  a  referendum  vote  for  a  settlement  was  lost,  a  con- 
vention in  1908  declared  off  a  strike  which  had  lasted  for 
three  years.^^  In  1904  on  the  occasion  of  a  strike  in  West 
Virginia  a  special  convention  of  the  United  Mine  Workers 
of  the  New  River  District  was  called  by  the  authority  of 
the  general  officers.  The  whole  situation  was  explained 
to  the  delegates  at  the  convention,  and  by  a  large  majority 
the  convention  declared  the  strike  at  an  end.^'     Likewise 

21  United  Mine  Workers'  Journal,  June  6,  1895,  p.  i;  June  13,  1895, 
p.  I. 

"^  Proceedings,  191 1,  p.  73. 

2*  Constitution,  1906,  art.  vi,  sec.  I. 

^  Proceedings,  1908,  p.  80. 

^^  Proceedings,  1904,  p.  42. 


46l]  THE   TERMINATION   OF   STRIKES  123 

in  1 901  a  proposition  for  strike  settlement  by  several 
anthracite  coal  operators  was  considered  at  the  Scranton 
Convention  and  accepted.  A  proclamation  declaring  the 
strike  officially  ended  was  issued  after  being  signed  by  the 
national  executive  board  and  the  presidents  and  secretaries 
of  districts  nos.  i,  7,  and  9. 

The  local  union  or  unions  involved  in  a  strike  are  bound 
to  accept  the  terms  of  a  settlement  brought  about  by  duly 
constituted  authority.  The  Metal  Polishers  follow  the 
general  usage  in  declaring  that  "any  local  union  accepting 
a  settlement  contrary  to  the  decision  of  all  local  unions  or 
the  National  Executive  Board  shall  be  expelled  by  the 
International  Union  upon  presentation  of  sufficient  evi- 
dence of  guilt."^^  Not  only  may  such  action  be  penalized 
by  revocation  of  charter,  but  individual  members  may  be 
suspended  if  they  refuse  to  obey  the  instructions  of  the 
general  officers  to  return  to  work  in  such  unions  as  the 
Blacksmiths,  the  Brush  Makers,  the  Iron  Molders,  and  the 
Printing  Pressmen.  The  places  of  the  strikers  may  even 
be  filled  and  the  strike  thus  terminated.  Usually,  how- 
ever, such  action  is  not  necessary,  as  the  simple  withdrawal 
of  strike  benefits  compels  acceptance  on  the  part  of  even 
recalcitrant  local  unions. 

26  Proceedings,  1911,  p.  178. 


INDEX 


Actors'  International  Union,  26, 
81. 

Affiliation,  length  of  period  of, 
38,  102  (note). 

American  and  Examiner  (Chi- 
cago), strike  on,  67. 

American  Federation  of  Labor, 
representation  of,  in  strike, 
119. 

American  Newspaper  Publish- 
ers' Association,  36,  66. 

American  Railway  Union,  58,  61. 

Amnesty,  during  strikes,  83. 

Appeal,  right  of,  44,  ili,  117. 

Arbitration,  agreements  for,  31, 
33,  35;  use  of,  54,  117. 

Arthur,  P.  M.,  20,  34,  46,  57,  59, 
117. 

Assessments,  strike,  98  (note). 

Automobiles,  use  of,  during 
strike,  86. 

Autonomy,  local,  11,  71. 

Bakery  and  Confectionery 
Workers'  International  Union, 
32,  38,  42;  strike  management 
of,  74,  78,  82,  84;  strike  bene- 
fits of,  99,  loi,  109,  no,  113. 

Baltimore  Cigar  Makers,  80. 

Barbers'  International  Union, 
Journeymen,  32,  38,  49 ;  deputy 
of,  74;  strike  assessment  of,  97 
(note)  ;  strike  benefits  of,  99, 
loi,  109;  strike  termination  in, 
120. 

Barnett,  G.  E.,  13,  55,  77,  79,  94. 

Barrett,  grand  master  of  Switch- 
men's Mutual  Aid  Association, 
59- 

Beer  agency  during  strike,  87. 

Benefits,  strike,  amounts  paid  in, 
111-115. 

Benevolent  and  Protective  Spin- 
ners' Association  of  New  Eng- 
land, 29. 

Best,  W.  S.,  117. 


Bill  Posters  and  Billers  of  Amer- 
ica, International  Alliance  of, 
50. 

Blacksmiths,  International 
Brotherhood  of,  44,  46,  48, 
75;  strike  benefits,  99,  102; 
strike  termination  in,  119,  123. 

Blast  Furnace  Workers  and 
Smelters,  National  Associa- 
tion of,  49,  71. 

Boiler  Makers  and  Iron  Ship- 
builders, Brotherhood  of,  43, 
62;  strike  notices  in,  77;  re- 
instatement in,  81 ;  strike  ben- 
efits of,  97  (note),  99;  strike 
termination  in,   119,   121. 

Bookbinders,  International 
Brotherhood  of,  41,  42,  44,  55, 
64,  78,  82,  99,   104,  109. 

Boot  and  Shoe  Workers'  Un- 
ion, 33,  55 ;  illegal  strike  of, 
64,  68;  centralization  in,  70; 
strike  benefits  of,  99,  loi ;  ex- 
ecutive board  of,  120. 

Bowen,  president  of  Bricklay- 
ers and  Masons,  27. 

Box  Makers  and  Sawyers, 
United  Order  of,  19;  fines  in, 
64;  strike  termination  in,  120, 
122. 

Boycott,  85. 

Brewery  Workmen,  Interna- 
tional Union  of  the  United, 
arbitration  in,  32;  aflfiliation 
period  of,  38;  strike  vote  in, 
41,  42;  independent  strikes  of, 
50,  55 ;  beer  agency  of,  87 
(and  note)  ;  strike  benefits  of, 
96,  99,  100,  105,  109. 

Brick,  Tile  and  Terra  Cotta 
Workers'  Alliance,  Interna- 
tional, district  council  of,  72 ; 
strike  benefits  of,  99,  in. 

Bricklayers  and  Masons'  Inter- 
national Union,  strike  control 
of,  15;  strike  vote  of,  16,  17; 


125 


126 


INDEX 


[464 


deputy  of,  20,  23,  27,  118;  ar- 
bitration in,  31 ;  time  affilia- 
tion provision  of,  39;  seasonal 
strikes  of,  44;  strike  limita- 
tions of,  47;  independent 
strikes  of,  50,  69;  strike  man- 
agement of,  77,  87;  strike 
benefits  of,  89,  91,  95,  97,  99, 
103,  106,  107,  hi;  executive 
power  of,  120. 

Bridge  and  Structural  Iron 
Workers,  International  Asso- 
ciation of,  98  (note),  99,  loi, 
120. 

Broom  and  Whiskmakers'  Un- 
ion, International,  42 ;  inde- 
pendent strike  of  district 
union  of,  51 ;  fines  of,  81 ; 
strike  benefits  of,  99,  109,  121. 

Brush  Makers'  International 
Union,  41,  81,   123. 

Buffalo  Tailors,  79. 

Building  Trades'  Strike,  50. 

Bureau  of  Mediation  and  Arbi- 
tration of  the  State  of  New 
York,  119. 

Burlington  Strike,  83,  iii. 

Cannon,  president  of  Cigar 
Makers,  30. 

Car  Workers,  International  As- 
sociation of,  24,  73,  99. 

Carpenters  and  joiners,  United 
Brotherhood  of,  deputy  of, 
23;  arbitration  provision  of, 
32;  limitations  of  number  of 
strikes  of,  47;  independent 
strikes  of,  54;  district  council 
of,  72 ;  fines  of,  81 ;  picketing 
during  strikes,  84;  strike  ben- 
efits of,  99,  103,  107,  121. 

Carr,  president  of  Bricklayers 
and  Masons,  91. 

Carriage  and  Wagon  Workers' 
International  Union,  23;  limi- 
tation of  strikes  of,  48;  sym- 
pathetic strikes  of,  62;  strike 
benefits  of,  99,  no. 

Cement  Workers,  Brotherhood 
of,  30,  39,  78,  99  (note). 

Chain  Makers'  National  Union, 
79;  strike  benefits  of,  95,  99, 
100;  convention  of,  122. 

Charter,  suspension  of,  65,  68, 
69. 

Chicago  Glove  Workers,  33 
(note). 


Chicago  Railroad  Strike,  46. 

Cigar  Makers'  International 
Union,  strike  control  of,  17, 
18;  deputy  of,  22,  73,  117;  ar- 
bitration in,  30;  seasonal 
strikes  of,  44,  48;  independent 
strikes  of,  51,  69,  70;  joint 
committee  of,  72;  strike  re- 
ports of,  76,  77;  strike  man- 
agement of,  78,  82,  85 ;  com- 
missary of,  86;  strike  benefits 
of,  89,  90,  92,  96,  99,  105;  ref- 
erendum in,  122. 

Clark,  E.  E.,  57,  117  (note). 

Cloak,  Suit  and  Manufacturers' 
Protective  Association,  34. 

Cloth  Hat  and  Cap  Makers, 
United,  50;  strike  benefits  of, 
95,  99,  121. 

Cloth  Weavers*  Union,  50. 

Coal  Hoisting  Engineers'  Un- 
ion, 36. 

Commercial  Telegraphers'  Un- 
ion of  America,  49,  99,  121. 

Commissary  department  in 
strikes,  86. 

Commons,  J.  R.,  12. 

Composition  Roofers,  Damp  and 
Waterproof  Workers,  Inter- 
national Brotherhood  of,  49, 
71. 

Compressed  Air  and  Founda- 
tion Workers'  Union,  51. 

Cooperative  contract,  87. 

Coopers'  International  Union, 
36,  39,  41,  44,  51,  81 ;  strike 
benefits  of,  99,  113,  121. 

Cutting  Die  and  Cutter  Makers, 
Union  of,  51 ;  strike  benefits 
of,  99,  100,  102;  executive 
board  of,  120. 

Daly,  president  of  Metal  Polish- 
ers, 83. 

Debs,  Eugene  V.,  59,  60. 

Deputy,  national,  25,  73,  74.  118. 

Dillon,  secretary  of  Flint  Glass 
Workers,  94. 

District  councils,  41,  43,  72,  97, 
122. 

Duffy,  T.  J.,  36  (note). 

Duncan,  James,  22. 

Dunn,  president  of  Boiler  Mak- 
ers, 43. 

Elastic  Goring  Weavers'  Asso- 
ciation, 51. 


465] 


INDEX 


127 


Electrical  Workers  of  America, 
International  Brotherhood  of, 
49,  103,  119. 

Elevator  Constructors,  Interna- 
tional Union  of,  51 ;  strike 
benefits  of,  96,  99,  100. 

Erdman  Act,  35. 

Faulkner,  Alexander,  20. 

Fitzpatrick,  president  of  Iron 
Molders,  93. 

Flint  Glass  Workers'  Union, 
American,  19,  35,  52;  strike 
management  of,  TJ,  83;  strike 
benefits  of,  93,  96,  98,  loi,  102, 
105,106,109,111;  strike  termi- 
nation in,  117,  120,  121. 

Fox,  Martin,  25,  53,  no. 

Franklin  Typographical  Society, 

Freight   Handlers,   Brotherhood 

of  Railroad,  78,  120. 
Frost,   president  of   Bricklayers 

and  Masons,  91. 

Garretson,  president  of  Railway 
Conductors,  27. 

Gaul,  president  of  Bricklayers 
and  Masons,  16,  91. 

General  executive  boards,  120- 
122. 

General  Trade  Union  of  New 
York.  88. 

Glass  Bottle  Blowers'  Associa- 
tion, 35. 

Glass  Workers'  International 
Association,  Amalgamated,  35, 
121. 

Glove  Workers'  Union,  Interna- 
tional, agreements  of,  33  (and 
note)  ;  independent  strike  of, 
51 ;  strike  benefits  of,  103. 

Granite  Cutters'  International 
Association,  deputy  of,  22; 
arbitration  in,  30,  32;  strike 
requirements  of,  40,  61 ;  strike 
management  of,  71,  80,  85 ; 
strike  benefits  of,  99,  100,  108. 

Hatters,  United,  51.  99. 

Hod  Carriers  and  Building  La- 
borers' Union,  International, 
49;  deputy  of,  71  (note). 

Horseshoers'  International  Un- 
ion, Journeymen,  32 ;  cards  of, 
78;  strike  termination  in,  116. 


Hotel  and  Restaurant  Employ- 
ees' International  Alliance  and 
Bartenders'  International 
League,  deputy  of,  23 ;  arbi- 
tration in,  32;  strike  benefits 
of,  99,  loi,  103;  strike  rules 
of,  38,  50,  51- 

Howard,  G.  W.,  59. 

Illinois  Coal  Operators'  Asso- 
ciation, 2)7- 

Industrial  Congress,  29. 

Industrial  Workers  of  the 
World,  99. 

International  Paper  Company 
Strike,  119. 

Iron  Molders.  See  Molders' 
Union,  International. 

Iron,  Steel  and  Tin  Workers, 
National  Amalgamated  Asso- 
ciation of,  district  council  of, 
43;  strike  control  of,  51,  55; 
strike  benefits  of,  96,  99,  loi ; 
executive  power  of,  120. 

Joint  strike  committee,  72. 
Journeymen  Tailors'  Strikes,  84. 

Kellogg,  H.  N.,  66. 

Kempner,  Louis,  105. 

Kline,  president  of  Blacksmiths, 

63. 
Knights  of  St.  Cnspm,  61 ;    strike 

benefits  of,  92,  104. 

Lace  Curtain  Operatives,  Amal- 
gamated, 120. 

Ladies'  Garment  Workers'  Un- 
ion, International,  protocol  of, 
34;  independent  strikes  of,  50; 
strike  benefits  of,  121. 

Lake  Seamen's  Union,  121. 

Lasters'  Protective  Association, 
30. 

Lescohier,  D.  C,  92  (note),  104 
(note). 

Lockouts,  109. 

Locomotive  Engineers,  Brother- 
hood of,  deputy  of,  21,  24,  ^2,', 
agreements  in,  21,  34;  inde- 
pendent strikes  of,  52.  55,  56, 
59,  60,  62,  64,  69 ;  strike  con- 
trol of,  70;  strike  management 
of,  Ti>  81,  82,  83 ;  strike  bene- 
fits of,  99,  100,  103,  107,  in; 
general  vote  of,  121. 


128 


INDEX 


[466 


Locomotive  Firemen  and  En- 
ginemen,  Brotherhood  of,  dep- 
uty of,  24,  y2„  117;  arbitra- 
tion in,  35 ;  independent  strikes 
of.  52,  55.  56,  58  (and  note), 
60;  strike  benefits  of,  99,  loi, 
103;  executive  power  of,  120; 
general  vote  of,  121. 

Longshoremen's  Association,  In- 
ternational, 2>7- 

Lynch,  president  of  Typograph- 
ical Union,  66. 

McDonald  machine  men,  68. 

Machine  Coopers'  Employers' 
Association,  36. 

Machine  Printers  and  Color 
Mixers'  Association.  See  Wall 
Paper  Machine  Printers  and 
Color  Mixers'  Association. 

Machinists,  International  Asso- 
ciation of,  agreements  in,  32; 
district  lodges  of,  43;  strike 
control  of,  51 ;  strike  notices 
of,  "JT,  strike  benefits  of,  102, 
107,  III;  executive  power  of, 
119. 

McNeill,  G.  E.,  30  (note), 

McNeill,  John,  43. 

Maintenance  of  Way  Employ- 
ees, International  Brother- 
hood of,  51,  58. 

Meat  Cutters  and  Butcher 
Workmen,  Amalgamated,  51. 

Menger,  president  of  Operative 
Potters,  25. 

Metal  Polishers'  International 
Union,  deputy  of,  41 ;  strike 
control  in,  51.  62;  strike  bene- 
fits of,  64,  87,  96,  99;  strike 
termination  in,  120,  123. 

Mine  Workers.  United,  district 
agreements  of,  36 ;  district  con- 
trol in,  43  ;  independent  strikes 
of,  52,  55,  68;  deputy  power 
of,  85;  strike  benefits  of,  98, 
99.  100,  112;  general  vote  of, 
122. 

Missouri  Pacific  Railway  Strike, 
119. 

Mitchell,  John,  36  (note). 

Molders'  Union,  International, 
strike  control  of,  13-15 ;  dep- 
uty of,  20,  23,  123 ;  arbitration 
in.  30,  35;  agreements  in,  35; 
limitation    of    strikes    in,    48; 


independent  strikes  of,  52,  62, 
69,  70;  strike  management  of, 
77,  80,  81;  strike  benefits  of, 
89.  93.  96,  99,  107,  108  (note), 
no.  III;  executive  control  of, 
119,  121,  123;  convention  con- 
trol of,  122. 

National  Association  of  the 
Granite  Industry  of  the 
United  States,  37. 

National  executive  board,   123. 

National  Founders'  Association, 
35. 

National  Labor  Congress,  29. 

National  Manufacturers'  Asso- 
ciation, 95. 

New  Haven  Strike,  65. 

New  York  General  Trades' 
Union,  11. 

New  York  Interurban  Strike,  65. 

New  York  Society  of  Printers, 
88. 

New  York  Subway  Strike,  ^. 

O'Dea,  secretary  of  Bricklayers, 
39- 

Ohio  Valley  Stone  Contractors' 
Association,  35. 

O'Keefe,  president  of  Bricklay- 
ers, 16. 

Painters,  Decorators  and  Pa- 
perhangers.  Brotherhood  of, 
40,  78;  S5Tnpathetic  strikes  of, 
61 ;  deputy  of,  74;  strike  bene- 
fits of,  97,  99,  loi,  104,  121. 

Paper  Makers,  International 
Brotherhood  of,  52,  119 ;  strike 
management  of,  81,  85 ;  strike 
benefits  of,  105. 

Pattern  Makers'  League,  99; 
discipline  of,  69,  81 ;  power  to 
end  strike,  120. 

Pavers,  Rammers,  Flaggers, 
Bridge  and  Stone  Curb  Set- 
ters, International  Union  of, 
32,  52. 

Paving  Cutters'  Union,  52,  81 ; 
emergency  strike  of,  44. 

Penn  Art  Metal  Company,  87. 

Perkins,  G.  W.,  18  (and  note). 

Philadelphia  Cordwainers,  84, 
88,  104. 

Philadelphia  General  Trades' 
Union,  11,  46. 


467] 


INDEX 


129 


Philadelphia  Journeymen  Tail- 
ors, 80. 

Philadelphia  Typographical  So- 
ciety, ^(>. 

Photo-Engravers,  International 
Union  of,  agreements  in,  36; 
independent  strikes  of,  52,  55, 
64,  67;  strike  management  in, 
81;  portable  outfit  of,  87; 
strike  benefits  of,  99,  109,  no. 

Piano  and  Organ  Workers'  In- 
ternational Union,  19,  31,  105 ; 
district  union  of,  43 ;  seasonal 
strikes  of,  45,  48;  referendum 
in,  122. 

Picketing,  83-85. 

Pittsburgh  Cordwainers,  79,  88. 

Plasterers,  Brotherhood  of 
Operative,  40,  78;  strike  bene- 
fits of,  97,  99,  100. 

Plate  Printers'  Union,  Interna- 
tional Steel  and  Copper,  41, 
82;  strike  benefits  of,  64,  99, 
109,  no. 

Plumbers,  Gas,  and  Steam  Fit- 
ters, United  Association  of, 
strike  sanction  of,  48;  strikes 
against  unfair  employers,  85 ; 
strike  benefits  of,  105 ;  general 
vote  of,  122. 

Potters,  National  Brotherhood 
of  Operative,  agreements  in, 
36;  general  vote  of,  19,  121; 
independent  strikes  of,  52,  55, 
64;  strike  notice  in,  'JT,  strike 
benefits  of,  94,  96,  99,  loi,  109. 

Powder  Workers,  United,  52, 
no. 

Print  Cutters'  Association,  Na- 
tional, 49,  71. 

Printers.  See  Typographical  Un- 
ion. 

Printing  Pressmen  and  Assist- 
ants' Union,  agreements  in, 
2)^;  independent  strikes  of,  52, 
55 ;  executive  power  of,  123. 

Pullman  Strike,  58. 

Pulp,  Sulphite  and  Paper  Mill 
Workers,  52,  119. 

Quarry  Workers,  International 
Union  of,  52. 

Railroad  Brakemen,  Brother- 
hood of.  58. 

Railroad  Expressmen,  Order  of, 
52. 


Railroad  Telegraphers,  Order 
of,  arbitration  in,  35 ;  inde- 
pendent strikes  of,  52,  55; 
deputy  of,  TZ- 

Railroad  Trainmen,  Brother- 
hood of,  deputy  of,  24,  "JZ  J  ar- 
bitration in,  35 ;  independent 
strikes  of,  52,  58,  65 ;  strike 
benefits  of,  96,  99,  100,  103, 
105 ;  general  vote  of,  121. 

Railway  Carmen,  Brotherhood 
of,  deputy  of,  24;  independent 
strikes  of,  55,  58,  64;  strike 
benefits  of,  97. 

Railway  Clerks,  Brotherhood 
of,  41 ;  independent  strikes  of, 
55,  58;  deputy  of,  ^z■,  strike 
benefits  of,  99. 

Railway  Conductors,  Order  of, 
deputy  of,  24,  27,  ^2, ;  agree- 
ments in,  35 ;  independent 
strikes  of,  55,  56,  57;  strike 
benefits  of,  96,  99,  100. 

"  Rat,"  79. 

Referendum  vote,  19,  98,  121, 
122. 

Retail  Clerks,  International  Pro- 
tective Association  of,  52; 
strike  benefits  of,  99,  104; 
referendum  vote  in,  120. 

Rubber  Workers'  Union,   in. 

Saffin,  president  of  Iron  Hold- 
ers, 14,  48.  52. 

Salmon,  C.  H.,  74  (note). 

Sargent,  F.  P.,  57,  83. 

Saw  Smiths'  Union,  52,  81. 

"Scab,"  79- 

Seamen's  International  Union, 
52,  121. 

Sheet  Metal  Workers'  Interna- 
tional Alliance,  Amalgamated, 
seasonal  strikes  of,  45,  46; 
fines  in,  81 ;  strike  benefits  of, 
64,  96,  100,  103 ;  strike  termi- 
nation in,  119. 

Shipwrights,  Joiners,  and  Caulk- 
ers' Union,  International,  49. 

Slate  and  Tile  Roofers'  Interna- 
tional Union,  49,  71. 

Slate  Workers,  Brotherhood  of, 
52;  strike  funds  in,  99,  100. 

Slocum,  president  of  Black- 
smiths, 63. 

Smith,  Val,  65. 

Smith,  W.  J.,  n7. 

Steam   Engineers,    International 


I30 


INDEX 


[468 


Union  of,  agreements  in,  32, 
119;  strike  committee  of,  42; 
fines  in,  81. 

Steam,  Hot  Water  and  Power 
Pipe  Fitters  and  Helpers,  In- 
ternational Association  of, 
agreements  in,  32,  119;  card 
transfer  of,  78;  strike  funds 
of,  100. 

Steel  Plate  Transferers'  Asso- 
ciation, 49. 

Stereotypers  and  Electrotypers' 
Union,  International,  36,  55; 
illegal  strikes  of,  67. 

Stockton,  F.  T.,  80  (note). 

Stogie  Makers'  League,  40,  50; 
strike  benefits  of,  99,  lOO;  ex- 
ecutive power  of,  120. 

Stone  Cutters'  Association,  Jour- 
neymen, 19;  rules  of,  40 
(note),  80;  strike  limitation 
in,  47 ;  sympathetic  strikes  of, 
62;  strike  report  of,  75;  strike 
benefits  of,  99,  100,  102  (and 
note)  ;  representation  in,  117, 
118;  executive  power  of,  120. 

Stove  Founders'  National  De- 
fense Association,  35. 

Stove  Mounters  and  Steel  Range 
Workers'  International  Un- 
ion, deputy  of,  24 ;  independent 
strikes  of,  62,  63;  transfer 
cards  of,  78;  fines  in,  81; 
strike  benefits  of,  97,  99,  110; 
executive  power  of,  Ii6. 

Strasser,  A.  H.,  54,  117. 

Street  and  Electric  Railway  Em- 
ployees, Amalgamated  Asso- 
ciation of,  52,  55;  automo- 
biles, used  by,  during  strike, 
86;  strike  benefits  of,  g6,  99, 
100,  106  (note). 

Strike,  early  history  of,  11-12; 
centralization  of  control,  12- 
19 ;  history  of  national  deputy, 
20-25  ;  function  of  deputy,  25- 
26;  advantages  of  system,  26- 
28;  history  of  arbitration,  29- 
30;  provisions  for  arbitration, 
30-34 ;  agreements,  34-37 ; 
rules  for  initiation  of  strikes, 
38-40;  voting  for  a  strike,  40- 
41 ;  district  boards,  41-43  ;  rules 
as  to  number  of  strikes,  44- 
48;  national  or  local  control 
of  independent  strikes,  49-61 ; 


sympathetic  strike,  61-64;  en- 
forcement of  rules,  64-69; 
tendency  toward  abolition  of 
independent  strike,  69-70;  lo- 
cal strike  committee,  71-72; 
district  committee,  72-73 ;  rep- 
resentative of  national  union, 
73-76;  notice  of  strike,  76-78; 
refusal  of  transfer  or  travel- 
ling cards,  78-79;  "scabs"  and 
"  rats,"  79^5  ;  aids  to  success- 
ful strikes,  85-87;  early  his- 
tory of  benefits,  88-96;  meth- 
ods of  collecting  strike  funds, 
96-103 ;  methods  of  payment, 
103-111;  amounts  paid,  iii- 
115;  methods  of  terminating 
strikes,  1 16-123. 

Switchmen's  Mutual  Aid  Asso- 
ciation, 59. 

Switchmen's   Union,  24,   52,  55, 

59. 
Sylvis,  W.  H.,  14,  20,  90. 

Teamsters,  International  Broth- 
erhood of,  32;  ballot  of,  40; 
independent  strikes  of,  50; 
suspension  in,  81 ;  strike  bene- 
fits of,  100,  109,  no;  execu- 
tive power  of,  121. 

Theatrical  Stage  Employees,  41, 
50,  78,  100. 

Tierney,  president  of  Stove 
Mounters,  24. 

Tile  Layers,  International  Asso- 
ciation of,  32,  40,  46;  fines  in, 
81 ;  strike  benefits  of,  96,  100, 
104;  executive  power  of,  120, 
121. 

Tin  Plate  Workers'  Interna- 
tional Protective  Association, 
district  union  of,  43;  inde- 
pendent strikes  of,  52;  strike 
notice  in,  77;  strike  extension 
in,  86;  strike  benefits  of,  96, 
100;  executive  power  of,  120. 

Tobacco  Workers'  International 
Union,  19,  32;  illegal  strikes 
of,  64;  strike  benefits  of,  97, 
100;  general  vote  of,  122. 

Transfer  cards,  78. 

Travellers'  Goods  and  Leather 
Novelty  Workers'  Interna- 
tional Union,  100,  104,  105. 

Typographical  Union,  Interna- 
tional, development  of  control 


469] 


INDEX 


131 


in,  13;  agreements  in,  36;  in- 
dependent strikes  of,  52,  55, 
69,  70;  strike  benefits  of,  89, 99. 

Unfair  list,  85. 

Upholsterers'  International  Un- 
ion, 100. 

Victimization,  108. 
Violence,  59. 

Wall  Paper  Machine  Printers' 
and  Color  Mixers'  Associa- 
tion, 36,  49,  71,  109. 

Wall  Paper  Manufacturers'  As- 
sociation, 36. 

Wilkinson,  S.  G.,  57. 


Window  Glass  Cutters  and  Flat- 
teners.  National,  35,  49. 

Winslow,  C.  H.,  34. 

Wire  Weavers'  Protective  As- 
sociation, 52. 

Wood  Carvers'  Association,  In- 
ternational, 81 ;  strike  benefits 
of,  100,  109;  power  to  end 
strike,  121. 

Wood,  Wire,  and  Metal  Lath- 
ers' International  Union,  49, 
85. 

Wood  Workers'  International 
Union,  Amalgamated,  strike 
policy  of,  41,  46;  independent 
strikes  of,  62;  deputies  of,  73; 
strike  benefits  of,  99,  104;  ex- 
ecutive power  of,  120. 


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I.  An  Introduction  to  American  Institutional  History.     By  E.  A.  Fbbbman.     25  cents. 

II.  The  Germanic  Origin  of  New  England  Towns.     By  H.  B.  Adams.     50  cents. 

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•X.  A  History  of  Liberia.     By  J.  H.  T.  McPheeson. 

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Mi  laoir^ 


yi8 


Early  Diplomatic 


BETWEEN 


the  United  States  anc  Mexico 

By  WILLIAM  R.  MANNING,^h.D. 

Adjunct  Professor  of  Latin-American  Histor  in  the  University 

of  Texas 

418  pages.     Cloth,  $2.25 

This  volume  is  based  on  a  series  of  lectuis  delivered  at  the 
Johns  Hopkins  University  in  1913  on  the  Alert  Shaw  Founda- 
tion. It  deals  with  a  period  in  the  diplomat! relations  between 
the  United  States  and  Mexico,  which  has  hiierto  been  largely 
ignored  by  historians,  whose  attention  has  3r  the  most  part 
been  centered  on  the  Texas  revolution,  the  amission  of  Texas 
into  the  Union,  and  the  war  between  the  'nited  States  and 
Mexico. 

The  writer  shows  in  an  interesting  way  ha  the  British  took 
advantage  of  our  delay  in  establishing  a  perranent  representa- 
tive at  the  Mexican  capital  to  promote  Britishnfluence  over  the 
Mexican  government,  and  how  Poinsett's  effois  to  recover  pres- 
tige for  his  government  involved  him  in  ifiiculties  and  in 
charges  of  intermeddling  in  the  internal  affas  of  the  country. 
The  suspicions  thus  aroused,  together  with  'oinsett's  connec- 
tion with  the  York  Masons,  thwarted  his  etrts  to  bring  to  a 
successful  conclusion  the  treaty  negotiations  ith  which  he  was 
charged.  Professor  Manning  sho^s  that  in  tfi  misunderstand- 
ings and  differences  that  arose  during  the  yers  1825— 1829  are 
to  be  found  the  origin  and  explanation  of  he  irreconcilable 
differences  which  developed  during  the  nex  two  decades  and 
which  finally  resulted  in  war  between  the  bited  States  and 
Mexico. 


THE  JOHNS  HOPKINS  P!ESS 

BALTIMORE,  MARYLAND 


■m 


■A 


fn^^j 


^yjs 


Early  Diplomatic  Relations 


yw^i^  BETWEEN 

the  United  States  and  Mexico 

By  WILLIAM  R.  MANNING,  Ph.D. 
Adjunct  Professor  of  Latin-American  History  in  the  University 

of  Texas 

418  pages.     Cloth,  $2.25 

This  volume  is  based  on  a  series  of  lectures  delivered  at  the 
Johns  Hopkins  University  in  1913  on  the  Albert  Shaw  Founda- 
tion. It  deals  with  a  period  in  the  diplomatic  relations  between 
the  United  States  and  Mexico,  which  has  hitherto  been  largely 
ignored  by  historians,  whose  attention  has  for  the  most  part 
been  centered  on  the  Texas  revolution,  the  admission  of  Texas 
into  the  Union,  and  the  war  between  the  United  States  and 
Mexico. 

The  writer  shows  in  an  interesting  way  how  the  British  took 
advantage  of  our  delay  in  establishing  a  permanent  representa- 
tive at  the  Mexican  capital  to  promote  British  influence  over  the 
Mexican  government,  and  how  Poinsett's  efforts  to  recover  pres- 
tige for  his  government  involved  him  in  difficulties  and  in 
charges  of  intermeddling  in  the  internal  affairs  of  the  country. 
The  suspicions  thus  aroused,  together  with  Poinsett's  connec- 
tion with  the  York  Masons,  thwarted  his  efforts  to  bring  to  a 
successful  conclusion  the  treaty  negotiations  with  which  he  was 
charged.  Professor  Manning  shows  that  in  the  misunderstand- 
ings and  differences  that  arose  during  the  years  1 825-1 829  are 
to  be  found  the  origin  and  explanation  of  the  irreconcilable 
differences  which  developed  during  the  next  two  decades  and 
which  finally  resulted  in  war  between  the  United  States  and 
Mexico. 

THE  JOHNS  HOPKINS  PRESS 

BALTIMORE,  MARYLAND 


UCLA-Young  Research   Library 

HD5324   .J25C 

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L  009   544  230 


UNIVESITY  OF  CALIFORNIA 

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tion with  the  York  Masons,  thwarted  his  eflForts  to  bring  to  a 
successful  conclusion  the  treaty  negotiations  with  which  he  was 
charged.  Professor  Manning  shows  that  in  the  misunderstand- 
ings and  differences  that  arose  during  the  years  1 825-1 829  are 
to  be  found  the  origin  and  explanation  of  the  irreconcilable 
differences  which  developed  during  the  next  two  decades  and 
which  finally  resulted  in  war  between  the  United  States  and 
Mexico. 

THE  JOHNS  HOPKINS  PRESS 

BALTIMORE,  MARYLAND 


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2  8  1983 


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